


Peter Quill and the Accidental Rise to Stardom

by SilverHyena



Series: Accidental Peter Quill [2]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Acting, Crack Relationships, Crack Relationships that are now my OTPs, Everyone and their Grandma is a background character, M/M, Modern AU, Multi, Netflix Marvel Characters Included, Primarily Thorquill, no powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-09
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2020-08-13 08:15:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 50,841
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20171059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverHyena/pseuds/SilverHyena
Summary: A few years have passed since the events of the last story and Peter Quill has graduated college with a degree in theater.  Of course, he hasn't exactly gone out of his way to put it to use.  But when Loki decides to give him a push and signs him up for an audition, Quill ends up getting the part, scoring him a major role in the Grandmaster's upcoming TV show.  Starring alongside several well known actors immediately puts him in the spotlight, however, there are unexpected consequences when Quill's rising fame puts a strain on his relationship with Thor who is hard at work trying to run his father's company.  With their paths seemingly diverting, can the two still make it work?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> If it wasn't clear already, this is a sequel. So, if you haven't read the first one, you might want to check out Peter Quill and the Accidental Theft of his Crush's Boyfriend first. But hey, if you like to live dangerously that's cool too. Either way, I hope you enjoy!

Things had been pretty peaceful for the past two years. Quill had finished college with a theater degree while Thor had gotten one in business. Unlike his boyfriend though, who was using his degree on a daily basis running his father's company with the help of his siblings, Quill had yet to put his own degree to use. In fairness, he was pretty content helping out at May's diner. If he never amounted to anything more than being a waiter, that was kind of fine with him.

If anyone was going to go somewhere in life, it was Quill's brother, Peter. Now in college, him and his friends, Ned and Shuri, were already working alongside Tony on several sciency projects that Quill did not understand the first thing about outside of classes. Peter's relationship with Loki seemed to be going well enough too. They hung out together on a regular basis. Of course, Quill never caught them doing anything particularly risque, but that was probably because they were keeping their relationship private for the most part.

Mantis was actually doing great too. Quill and Thor had chipped in to buy her a violin for her birthday since that was the one thing she'd seemed to really enjoy from her time with Ego. She'd turned that gift into a career and was now part of a pretty well renowned orchestra.

Quill really was the ordinary one of the bunch.

He stifled a yawn as he headed over to the fridge to grab a glass of milk. Posted on the fridge was a picture of Scott, Gamora, and Cassie. They really did make a cute little family. Of course, Scott hadn't asked Gamora to marry him yet, but Quill bet that it was only a matter of time. Tony, on the other hand, had asked Jessica to marry him several times. She'd said no every time, regardless of how elaborate his proposals were starting to get. Well, one day she'd say yes. Probably. Jessica didn't seem interested in breaking up with Tony anyway.

Quill's thoughts turned to his own relationship with Thor. Marriage, huh? Thor hadn't brought it up since that one night at the hotel. If Quill brought it up again... Well, he'd probably have a ring on his finger before the day was done. Thor was goofy like that. Quill smiled to himself. Things were going fine. There was no need to change that now. Besides, Thor had enough on his plate at the moment. Even after two years, he was still making up for his father's missteps.

Quill finished pouring his glass of milk and put the gallon back in the fridge. When he turned around, he nearly jumped in surprise when he found Loki staring at him.

"H-hey, Loki," Quill said, "what's up?"

"I did your job for you and found you an audition," Loki said bluntly.

"What?"

"You've actually got a bit of talent, you know? I'm not going to let you waste it."

"I don't know about that."

"Well, I do. You were the highlight of both of the plays I went to."

"That doesn't mean I'd do well alongside actual actors."

"All I'm asking is that you actually try," Loki said, "you can do that much, can't you?"

"Yeah, I guess," Quill sighed, "when's the audition?"

\---------------------

Quill took a deep breath and looked around at the rest of the crowd waiting to be auditioned. Several of them practiced their lines and a few others looked over their appearance. Quill didn't really feel like he belonged. Still, he was here so he guessed that qualified him as much as anyone else.

Quill's phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw that the call was from Thor. Knowing that, he answered it immediately. "Hey," he said, "what's up?"

"Loki told me you had an audition so I just thought I'd call and wish you good luck."

Quill smiled, all of his previous nervousness replaced with adoration for his boyfriend. "Aren't you busy right now though?"

"I can spare a minute or two. So, how are you feeling?"

"Okay, now that I'm talking to you."

"But are you going to be okay when I get off the phone?"

"I think so. I mean, if I fail, it's no big deal, right? It's my first try."

"Give it your all anyway."

"I will."

"Good. I wish I could talk more, but--"

"I know. I love you," Quill said.

"I love you too," Thor replied happily.

Quill ended the call there and settled into his chair. He supposed he should actually take a look at the script he'd been given. "Let's see," Quill said. He'd been expecting some sort of generic commercial lines, but this was definitely not that. These lines were for an actual character-- some guy with a roguish charm. He could do that. After all, that's pretty much how he imagined his Star-Lord character from Scott's bedtime stories for Cassie. Maybe he did have an actual shot after all.

\---------------------

"So, how do you think it went?" Darcy asked, leaning against the counter. Quill was sharing his shift with her and Scott today. It had been awhile since all of their schedules had lined up.

"I think I did pretty well, actually," Quill said, "I mean, I don't know if I'll get the part or anything like that but, at the very least, it was good experience for the future."

"Assuming you ever actually go to another audition," Darcy replied. "I can see why you wouldn't want to though. If you become an actor, you won't get to hang out with me as much."

"I think I'll go find a few more parts to audition for right now."

"You jerk," Darcy chuckled.

"Anyway, how are the boyfriends?" Quill asked. He still didn't know how she made a polyamorous relationship work. If he'd tried sharing Thor with someone else, he'd be jealous all the time.

"They're doing great," Darcy said, "you really should join us for game night some time. It's been years now and you still haven't met Sam or Bucky."

"I do want to meet them. It's just... Well, your game nights always seem to coincide with Thor's free time."

"Bring him along then. The more the merrier," Darcy said. She looked over Quill's shoulder and said, "Scott, you should come to game night too. You can bring Gamora along."

"Sure. I'll see if she's interested," Scott replied.

"See? If Scott's coming, you have to too," Darcy said, turning her attention back to Quill.

"I don't follow the logic, but alright," Quill said with a laugh, "I'll be sure to keep my schedule free for your next game night."

\---------------------

May prepared dinner late so that it wouldn't conflict with Quill or Thor's schedule. Having meals together like this had become a weekly tradition of sorts. The kitchen table wasn't really big enough for everyone, but that didn't stop them from crowding around it to spend some time together. Today, even Hela had decided to show up. Quill noticed that she'd been coming over more often lately-- something he credited mostly to Mantis. They'd actually managed to become pretty good friends.

"So, how is work going?" May asked the three siblings as she took her seat next to Yondu.

"Well," Hela said, "Thor is quite talented at leaving a good impression. That's something I was never particularly good at."

"He'd be completely lost without us though," Loki pointed out.

"That's true. I still don't understand half the things they do," Thor said with a frown, "if I had to run the company on my own, it'd be a disaster."

"Well, luckily you don't have to run it on your own," May beamed.

Thor perked up at that. "That's true too. I'm grateful for that. I just wish I had more free time."

"I'm good with you being otherwise occupied," Yondu said bluntly, "when you and Quill have too much time on your hands you get creative and we do not need a repeat of the handcuff incident."

Both Quill and Thor blushed slightly.

"Handcuff incident?" Peter asked. They'd kept him out of the loop to preserve his innocence. He was a full grown adult now, but the rest of his family-- with the exception of Mantis-- still had a hard time thinking of him that way.

"Oh? You didn't hear? Quill borrowed May's--"

Quill put his hand over Mantis' mouth to stop her from continuing. "I-It's really not important. Just know lessons were learned and you really shouldn't take other people's stuff without asking."

Peter got the picture at this point. He sighed and looked at Loki who did his best to avoid eye contact. The slight red tint on his cheeks told Quill that Loki was well aware of Peter's gaze though.

"You guys are a riot," Hela laughed.

The table broke into more amicable chatter as Quill's phone rang. He dismissed himself and headed for the hallway to take the call. "Hello?" he asked.

"Is this Peter Quill?" the person on the other side asked.

"It is."

"You came in for an audition earlier today." Quill's heart started racing nervously. If he was getting a call that was good, right? They didn't usually bother calling people they weren't interested in, right? "We'd like you to come in for a callback."

"Seriously?"

"I am very serious. We were impressed with your performance."

"I'll be there," Quill said excitedly. He got the rest of the details he needed and then returned to the kitchen table in a bit of a daze.

"Any good news?" May asked hopefully.

"I got a callback," Quill said, "they want me to audition again."

The whole table erupted in cheers. "I told you!" Loki shouted above the noise. Thor got up from his seat and wrapped his arm around Quill's shoulder. Quill couldn't help but smile. If they were this happy now, he wondered how thrilled they'd be if he actually landed the part.

\---------------------

"Thanks for covering for me, Scott," Quill called as he ran out the door. His shift was originally supposed to be longer, but Scott had agreed to take over so he could go to his audition.

"No problem," Scott shouted back, "go get that part!"

"Will do!" Quill said. As if it was really that easy. Still, he was feeling pretty optimistic as he raced over to the theater where they were having the callbacks. When he got to the right building, he took a deep breath before entering. They were using the same stage as last time, but this time there were a few shadowy figures sitting in the back row of the theater.

"Whenever you're ready," the woman at the table in front of the stage said.

Quill thought he'd be nervous, but he wasn't. He'd memorized the lines last night so this time he was able to perform without a sheet of paper in front of him. It made his performance more dynamic and, in his opinion, much better.

"You can stop there. We have what we need," a man's voice came from the back of the theater. The figure the voice was coming from stood and walked down the aisle into the light. Quill had to do a double take. This guy-- with his wild fashion and swept back grey hair-- was instantly recognizable to Quill. He went by the name Grandmaster and was probably the most famous director in America at the moment. "You're name is Peter Quill, right?"

"Y-yes," Quill managed.

"Well, congratulations. You're the one I want for the part."

Quill felt like a deer in headlights.

The Grandmaster chuckled. "I do have that effect on people. Anyway, we might as well get all the shock over with now. You three! Come on over, why don't you?"

The rest of the figures stood and joined the Grandmaster up front. Quill recognized them too. These ones were well known actors though. 

The first one was Natasha Romanov. She was the very definition of a bombshell with her long, flowing red hair, and slender figure. Most magazines hailed her as the sexiest woman alive and if Gamora didn't exist, Quill would have probably agreed. "Hey," she said with a sly smile.

"H-hey," Quill responded, blushing slightly. Seeing her in person was both thrilling and intimidating.

The second in the line up was none other than his favorite action hero, Drax. It took all of Quill's will power not to squeal like a rabid fan girl. Of course, when he opened his mouth to say something whatever he'd intended to say was replaced by, "I love you." Quill bit his lip and instantly course corrected. "Y-your movies, I mean. I'm a big fan. Ever since your wrestling days."

Drax laughed good naturedly and slapped him on the shoulder. "I appreciate that," he said. He then offered Quill his hand to shake. Quill took it without hesitation. If he was dreaming, he didn't want to wake up.

The last of the three was Stephen Strange. While he was probably most famous for his role as an asshole doctor in a long running TV show, he also had a lot of Oscar nominated performances under his belt. The serious expression on his face didn't exactly come off as friendly. Quill wondered if he'd done something to upset the guy already. "I guess we'll be working together from now on," Stephen said in a formal tone, "I hope you're up to the challenge."

Quill wasn't sure he liked this guy. He supposed doubting his abilities was only natural. He was brand new to the acting world, after all. Still, Stephen could have tried to sound a little more optimistic. Quill tried to ignore him as he turned his attention back to the Grandmaster. "So... Basically, this part is a pretty big deal, huh?" Quill asked. Nothing about the initial set up of the audition prepared him for that.

"Oh, yes," the Grandmaster said, "you're going to be a part of my next great vision."

"Why me though? I-If you don't mind me asking. I'm sure you could have gotten another famous actor for the part."

"No one I could think of was gelling quite right with me so I figured I'd look at some lesser known talents," the Grandmaster said with a shrug, "and boy did that turn out to be the right idea! Kid, I'm going to make you a star!"

Quill gulped. That was kind of a lot of pressure.


	2. Chapter 2

Thor checked the time on his phone as he rode the elevator up to the third floor. Quill should be done with his second audition by now. Thor wanted to call him. If he wasn't about to meet with a potential business partner, he would have done it without a second thought. He sighed and put his phone away. Maybe he could take Quill out to dinner or something once he got home. Either way things panned out, Thor was sure some good food would be appreciated.

Thor exited the elevator once it reached the correct floor and headed down the hallway. Following the instructions the receptionist had given him, he made his way to the meeting room. Opening the door, he found that a woman with long dark hair was already in the room messing with a projector. "Hello," he said, clearing his throat.

When she turned around to look at him, Thor realized that he recognized her.

"Sif?" he asked.

"The one an only," she replied with a smile, "it's been a long time, Thor."

Thor grinned in return. "Wow," he said, stalling for time as he tried to find the words, "you look great." Last time he'd seen her, they were both children. Her hair had been cut short, making her look a bit like a boy. There was no mistaking the fact that she was a woman now. "I kind of miss the short hair though."

Sif frowned, her cheeks turning slightly pink. "Really? Because I always kind of thought that was the reason you never saw me in a romantic light."

"Why would that..."

"You know, because I probably looked like a boy."

"I can promise you that wasn't the issue."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I'm dating a man right now."

"Oh," Sif said, "then you weren't attracted to me because..."

"No. It's not that either," Thor said, putting a stop to that train of thought, "I'm bisexual. I've been attracted to both sexes since I started being attracted to anyone. I never even had a phase where I questioned it."

"Then it's still annoying you never liked me that way," Sif said, crossing her arms.

"Come on. You can't have really wanted to go through with the arranged marriage."

"...I wouldn't have minded it," she answered quietly.

Thor was a bit taken aback. He'd always thought that they'd been on the same page as far as the whole arranged marriage was concerned. After all, believing you'd fall for someone your parents picked out for you was ridiculous, right? Maybe he'd never really given Sif a chance because it's what his parents had wanted. Still, while Thor regretted that he might have hurt her, he did not regret his choices. They are what led him to Quill, after all. "I'm sorry," he said, finally.

"Don't be," Sif said, shaking her head, "you can't help how you felt. Just like I couldn't help how I felt. I'm glad you're doing well. And I'm happy you've found yourself someone you love."

"How about you? Surely you haven't been hung up on me all these years?"

That question was met with awkward silence. Finally, Sif cleared her throat and said, "I've been focused on work. I haven't had the time to think about that sort of thing."

"Right," Thor answered quickly. That was obviously not the case, but he took the out she'd given him.

"A-anyway, you're here on business, right?"

"Yes," Thor said, suddenly recalling the reason he'd come in the first place, "I wanted to talk about our companies becoming business partners."

"That's what I thought and the answer is yes."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. I've already looked into your company and I think such a partnership would be beneficial for both of us. I already ran it by the boss too and he agrees."

"So you weren't setting up the projector earlier to give me some kind of spiel?"

"No," Sif chuckled, "that's for a different meeting."

"Well, it's good to be working with you."

"Same," Sif smiled. "Business aside, we should catch up sometime."

"I'd like that," Thor replied.

"Maybe I'll see if I can get the whole gang back together."

"That would be amazing. It's been forever since I've seen Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogan."

"Spoiler alert. They started a band together called the Warriors Three."

"That sounds disastrous."

"They're actually not bad."

"Maybe I'll have to go see them perform some time then."

"You could bring your boyfriend along too. It might make for an interesting date."

"Quill would probably enjoy that. He likes music quite a bit."

"I'll send you the details for their next performance."

"I'll look forward to it," Thor said. He meant it. Being around Sif kind of made him miss the old days. It'd be nice to reconnect.

\---------------------

"I, uh, think I'll just have water," Quill told the waiter. After being introduced to everyone at the theater, the Grandmaster had suggested going over all the details over dinner. Quill had agreed without a second thought, not taking into account that of course they'd all choose someplace out of his price range. He did the math in his head and figured he had enough on hand to cover salad and a tip.

"He doesn't want water," the Grandmaster intervened, "get what you want, Quill. I'm picking up the check."

"You sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. What else am I going to do with all my money?"

"Well, okay then. In that case, I'll take this fancy lemonade thing you've got listed here."

"That's more like it," the Grandmaster chuckled, "in fact, I think I'll take one of those as well."

"I'll join you two on that," Drax said.

"Well, I'm afraid I'll be breaking the pattern," Stephen said, "Tea for for me. Unsweetened."

"Thank goodness I didn't have to be the one to do it," Natasha said, overplaying her relief for comedic effect. "I'll take a coffee."

Their drink order out of the way, the waiter asked them if they wanted any appetizers. The Grandmaster ordered one of each. Then he turned his attention back to Quill and said, "you'll want to save room for desert. The cheesecake here is to die for."

"I'll keep that in mind," Quill said, "but, uh... Any recommendations on what I should get for my actual meal?"

"You can't really go wrong here," Natasha said, "everything is delicious."

"She's right about that. There are a few things I consider to be of a slightly higher caliber though," Stephen chimed in. He then proceeded to give Quill his in depth review of some of the dishes. The man was critical, but Quill had to admit that he sounded like he knew what he was talking about. In the end, Quill did take his advice and picked out one of the dishes he'd mentioned.

"So, now that we have the food situation sorted out, let's talk business," the Grandmaster said, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "I kind of assume you're in at this point, but there are some stipulations that could see being deal breakers. How do you feel about nudity?"

Quill didn't know how to respond to that question so he bought some time by asking one of his own, "like just nudity or sex scene nudity?"

"Both," the Grandmaster replied without flinching, "let's just get everything out on the table so I can figure out exactly what I have to work with."

"So the job doesn't depend on me doing it?"

"No," the Grandmaster said, "but it might effect things down the line. We are working on a TV show, after all. Things can change from season to season."

Quill chewed his bottom lip as he thought it over. How far he was willing to go was something he should have definitely figured out beforehand. Right now, he didn't want to do anything to jeopardize him keeping the role. He wasn't sure if he was totally comfortable with being naked on screen though. "I... I guess it's okay," he said finally, "as long as it serves the plot."

"You guess?" Stephen asked, a bit of coldness in his tone. Quill guessed he was judging him for not having a firm answer to the question.

"I'll do it, okay?" Quill growled defensively.

"Good to know," the Grandmaster said, clapping his hands together, "anyway, I guess I should actually explain what the TV show is about. We didn't exactly reveal a lot in that little monologue we gave you, after all."

"Yeah, I noticed that. There weren't really any hints regarding setting in it."

"Out of curiosity, what kind of setting did you imagine?"

"I imagined a space setting," Quill admitted, "I was kind of thinking of a character along the lines of Captain Kirk or Han Solo." Or Star-Lord. Quill didn't feel like explaining Star-Lord though.

"The classics," the Grandmaster said with a nod, "well, my show isn't set in space, but it does fall into the sci fi category. Basically, we're working with a steampunk setting." Quill could get behind that. Steampunk was a genre he'd always thought should be explored more in mainstream media. "Our main character, played by Stephen, is a clever but washed up private investigator. Desperate to make ends meet, he takes up a seemingly simple case that leads him to discovering a secret-- that vampires exist and have integrated themselves into society. He ends up taking a few jobs from them to save his hide and gets more entwined with the supernatural side of things as the plot moves forward."

"Which brings us to our other major characters. Drax is playing a... werewolf type character. I say werewolf, but those technically don't exist in this world. He's a weird subset of vampire that transforms into a mindless beast when the right conditions are met. Stephen's character meets him during his first case and ends up letting Drax stay at his place. Drax's character basically becomes his sidekick and bodyguard. Natasha is playing a high ranking vampire. She's a bit of a seductress who uses Stephen's character to her own ends. Her loyalty is mutable and you can never tell what side she's on at any given time."

"And finally, there's your character. Your character is human, but he knows about the vampires. He often acts as a go between for them and is involved in some shady dealings. That being said, he is more friend than foe because of his fascination with our detective."

Quill stopped the Grandmaster there. "When you say fascination, you mean..."

"He's sexually attracted to Stephen's character."

"So my character is gay?"

"Technically, pansexual. Which reminds me, I forgot to ask earlier. Are you okay with that? Because if you aren't, that is a potential dealbreaker."

"I'm okay with it," Quill said quickly, "in fact, I'm more than okay with it." The curious looks the others gave him told Quill that he'd pretty much outed himself. He figured he should go go ahead and clarify so they didn't come to their own conclusions. "I actually have a boyfriend right now so that's not something that bothers me. I'm glad you're including a character that doesn't identify as straight."

"To think, you already had a boyfriend and you still hit on Drax earlier," Stephen said.

"T-that wasn't--" Quill stammered, turning a bright red, "I'm just a really big fan, okay?" Quill was so busy defending himself that he almost missed the subtle curve on Stephen's lips. He did catch it though which ultimately led to a new thought: was Stephen Strange actually teasing him right now? At least with that interpretation, Quill didn't feel like he was being judged again. He relaxed a little and let the joke play out. Whatever Stephen's intentions, Quill wasn't going to let the man ruin his dinner.

\---------------------

It was late when Quill pulled into the driveway. Thor was probably still up, but it was kind of an inopportune hour for visitors. Still, Quill figured he'd want to know how it went. And, honestly, Thor was the first one he wanted to to tell. So, tossing aside any sense of propriety, Quill headed next door and knocked.

It was Loki who answered. Instead of greeting Quill properly, he asked, "well?"

So much for telling Thor first. It was kind of appropriate that Loki would be hearing the news first though. He was the one who'd pushed Quill into doing it, after all. Quill flashed Loki a thumbs up.

"You got the part then?"

"I did."

"Yes! I knew you'd get it!" Loki cheered, "I mean, I gathered some information on a few other auditions, but that was just a precaution."

"When did you become my manager?"

"Since I discovered that you taking theater classes wasn't the total waste of time I originally assumed it was," Loki replied without hesitation.

"Wait. Do you actually want to be my manager? Like, for real?"

"I think it'd be kind of fun," Loki admitted, "of course, it is your choice."

"It won't interfere with your work at the company?"

"I doubt it. Hela and Thor take care of the time sensitive stuff. My own schedule is pretty flexible."

"Then yes. If you want to do it, I'd be happy to have you. You'll have to wait until my first paycheck to get paid though. Also, what's even a fair rate for--"

"Quill, don't worry about that. I don't need more money. I just want the satisfaction that comes from effectively assisting someone I actually kind of care about."

"Don't forget that he's mine," Thor interjected, walking up to the two of them. He said it a jovial tone, but there was a little bit of a threat underneath it all.

"You can rest easy, brother. I've got my own Peter. Anyway, I think Quill has some news he'd like to share with you," Loki said. He winked at Quill and added, "so I'll just excuse myself."

Before Thor could even ask, Quill spilled the news, "I got the part."

Thor grinned and took him into a tight hug. "I'm so proud of you!"

Quill laughed happily and leaned into it. Being in Thor's arms like this really was the best reward. The hug went on for another minute before Thor's stomach growled.

"Hm? Have you not eaten?" Quill asked.

"I haven't," Thor admitted sheepishly, "I thought maybe we could go for dinner after your audition, but..."

"I'm sorry! I didn't even think that you might want to do something like that!"

"It's alright. I shouldn't have waited this late anyway."

"Well, sit back and wait just a little longer. I'll take care of this."

"You're going to cook for me?" Thor asked with an amused smile.

"Why not? I'm not an expert chef, but if you work at a diner as long as I have, you're bound to pick up a few things."

Thor seemed to be quite happy with this outcome. Instead of sitting back and relaxing, however, he hovered over Quill's shoulder and hugged him from behind. It was distracting, but Quill did manage to whip him up a simple meal regardless.

"You sure you don't want any?" Thor asked as he sat down with his plate of food in front of him.

"I ate so much food earlier I might not ever be hungry again," Quill said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. The director invited me and my fellow cast members out after the audition," Quill explained, "I... I actually got to eat dinner with Drax."

Thor dropped his fork. "You're starring in a movie with Drax? That action hero you idolize?"

"In a TV show," Quill corrected, "but yes. Natasha Romanov and Stephen Strange are also going to be in it. It's being directed by the Grandmaster."

"Wow. That's... That's huge."

"I know. I'm still kind of convinced I'm dreaming."

"I'm happy for you but, uh... Don't cheat on me with Drax, okay?"

"...I may have told him I loved him," Quill confessed, "b-but I cleared it up immediately afterwards! He knows it's purely platonic!"

Thor chuckled. Quill knew the look on his face well. It meant that Thor thought he was being cute right now.

"You're the one I love," Quill added softly.

"I love you too, Quill," Thor replied earnestly, "more than anything."


	3. Chapter 3

Quill found himself checking his phone every other minute. Natasha had started a group text between him, her, Drax, Stephen, and the Grandmaster. While Quill hadn't worked up the nerve to respond yet, he was following the conversation going on between Drax and Natasha closely. They were currently swapping funny cat pictures. Quill chuckled to himself as Drax posted a particularly good one.

Quill's attention was pried from his phone as he heard the front door open. It seemed Peter was back from his classes on time today. "No lab time with Tony today?" Quill asked from his seated position on the living room couch.

"He's got a date with Jessica," Peter explained.

"Ah. Got it," Quill said, "hey... do you have a minute?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"Nothing. I just feel like we haven't caught up in awhile."

Peter put his backpack down and joined Quill on the couch. "Yeah," he said with a sigh, "I've been busy with college."

"You like it though, right?"

"I love it! It's a billion times better than high school was! And being able to work with Mr. Stark is a dream come true."

Quill smiled. Of course Peter would thrive in that sort of environment. "Then don't worry about it. I'll still be here when you graduate."

"Will you though?" Peter asked quietly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I just... It's really cool that you got that part. And I know you're going to be awesome," Peter started, "but actors don't really get to stay in one place, you know? They've got to go wherever the director wants to film."

"I guess that's true," Quill replied. That was another thing he hadn't fully considered. "B-but hey, if I really do make it big I'll be able to afford plane tickets back whenever I get a bit of a break. And we can always talk to each other on the phone. It's not like I'll disappear entirely."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Peter leaned in and hugged Quill. It was a surprisingly tight hug. Quill figured Peter had been thinking about this since he'd broken the news to his family that he'd gotten the part.

"Enough about that though," Quill said sheepishly, "how are things going for you? What kind of things are you working on with Tony? How are you and Loki doing?"

Peter froze at that last question.

"Okay," Quill said. He hadn't expected that reaction. He'd thought everything was going well between the two of them. "What happened?"

"W-what makes you think anything happened?"

"Come on, Pete. You can talk to me."

Peter let out a sigh. "It's not that something happened. Rather, it's that nothing's happened."

"Like, at all?" Quill asked, unable to hide his surprise.

"Yeah," Peter frowned, "I mean, we've made a little progress. We sometimes kiss and stuff, but we haven't... sealed the deal."

Quill had to take a second to think about that one. Loki wasn't Thor. Quill didn't expect him to be as aggressive when it came to that sort of thing. Still, two years? Unless he was saving himself for marriage or something that was a long time to be dating someone without having sex.

"I think he still sees me as a kid," Peter said.

That could be true. Still, Quill didn't want to assume anything. Instead, he gave Peter the best advice he had. "You have to talk to Loki," Quill said, "I know that it's going to be awkward and you might find out some things that you don't want to, but he's the only one who can tell you how he feels. Be honest about what you want out of the relationship. If Loki can't reciprocate... Well, it's best to figure that out now."

Peter leaned back on the couch and went silent for a minute. Finally, he said, "I know you're right. I just don't want him to break up with me."

"I get it," Quill said, "but I don't think waiting on it is the right call."

"I agree," Peter sighed, "though I may wait on it just a little bit longer. You know, to give me time to work up my nerve."

Quill smiled. He understood that too.

"Hey, um... How was it with you and Thor? You didn't wait that long, right?"

Quill turned a little red at that question. "Y-you don't want to compare Loki to Thor. Thor is... very forward."

"So, Thor is the one that brought it up then? Having sex, I mean."

Quill was spared having to answer by his phone ringing. "Ah, sorry, Peter," Quill said, not actually sorry, "it's Thor so I've got to take this. Good talk though."

"Wait! It was you?" Peter asked, astonished.

"Got to go," Quill said getting up from the couch and retreating to his room as fast as possible. Once he had safely shut the door behind him, he answered the call. "Hey, Thor. What's happening?"

"So, I've recently found out that some of my childhood friends started a band. They have a performance coming up and I thought it'd be fun to go see them together," Thor said, "you know, as a date? One of those things we haven't had in awhile?"

"A date? I can't say I've ever heard of that word," Quill replied teasingly. "But seriously, hell yeah. A date where I can listen to music and possibly get the dirt on you as a kid sounds great. When is the concert?"

"Friday night."

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"Um, that's the night Darcy is having her game night. I said I would go. I actually said I'd try to get you to go too."

"Oh."

"But... it's only natural that you'd want to go see your friends, right? You should go. I just... I can't cancel on Darcy again."

"I see."

"I'm really sorry. Maybe we can see their next gig together?"

"Yeah," Thor sighed. The disappointment in his tone was clear as day. Quill wished he'd had another answer for him, but he'd been blowing of Darcy for Thor for years now. If he did it again after specifically telling her he'd be there, she'd have every right to defriend him.

"I love you," Quill said, trying to perk Thor up a bit.

It did the trick. "I love you too," Thor said softly. "I'll be sure to find out when they're playing next."

"Do that. I really do want to go see them with you at some point."

"Good night, Quill."

"Night, Thor," Quill said before hanging up the phone. He sighed and then flopped backwards onto his bed. Damn it. Going to a concert with Thor would have been so much fun. He let out a loud sigh and then checked the group text once more. The Grandmaster had added his own cat picture to the mix. Like Quill, Stephen had yet to post any sort of message. Quill was pretty sure that wasn't nerves on his part though. He assumed Stephen found posting cat pictures beneath him.

\---------------------

It occurred to Quill that he'd never actually been to Darcy's house. He'd been to the apartment she'd owned previously a bunch of times, but never this one. Her and her boyfriends had bought it together a couple of months ago after deciding they were all ready for more of a commitment. From the outside, it looked like a pretty decent sized house. They probably had a lot of fun living together. Having Thor as a neighbor was pretty great, but Quill kind of missed sharing the same house with him.  
Before he could knock, the front door swung open. On the opposite side stood Gamora. Quill grinned automatically and went in for a hug. She accepted immediately. "It's so good to see you," Quill said.

"Same," she said, "I meant to make time earlier, but it just didn't happen."

"It's cool. I know you were busy with Scott and Cassie."

"I know, but--"

"I just don't know what you see in him," Quill cut her off with a bit of a joke. He figured she'd respond better to that than anything else.

"Oh, like you don't love Scott yourself," Gamora chuckled, jabbing Quill playfully in the shoulder.

"Yeah, he's pretty great," Quill admitted with a grin.

"Stop talking about Gamora's pretty great boyfriend and come meet my pretty great boyfriends already," Darcy said, walking up to the two of them. They must have lingered at the doorway too long. That, or Darcy was just being impatient.

"Right, of course. Lead the way," Quill said.

Darcy led Quill to the living room where Scott and the two guys in question sat around a coffee table covered in dice and sheets of paper. "This the infamous Quill?" the first guy asked, getting up from his seated position.

"Yeah. That would be me."

"I'm Sam. It's nice to finally meet you. The quiet one over there is Bucky."

Bucky lifted his hand in a minor attempt at a wave. 

"Is Thor coming?" Darcy asked.

"He had something come up," Quill said with a frown, "so no. Sorry."

"That just means you have options," Bucky said, lifting up two separate sheets of paper, "do you want to be the tiefling fighter or the halfling cleric?"

"Hm?"

"We're playing Dungeons and Dragons. I'm the Dungeon Master," Bucky explained.

"What is everyone else playing?" Quill asked. He'd come in with the impression they'd be playing Monopoly or something equally basic. Dungeons and Dragons was certainly unexpected. He could get behind the idea though.

"Gnome monk," Darcy said.

"Dwarf bard," Scott chimed in excitedly.

"Half orc sorcerer," Sam added.

"And I'm a dragonborn rogue, I guess," Gamora said, looking over her papers. He got the impression that she'd never played before. Quill didn't have much experience either, but he had at least played a game or two in the past. He knew enough to know that if he was being a team player, he should pick the cleric. But tieflings were so damn cool!

"I'll be the tiefling fighter," Quill announced.

"No healer, huh?" Bucky commented, "well, I'm sure that will work out." He scribbled some notes down and then handed Quill his character sheet. "Take a minute to look over your character sheet. If you have any questions, just ask. When you think you're ready, we can go ahead and start."

Quill nodded. He didn't totally remember how to play, but he figured he'd pick it up again pretty fast. In any case, they'd have to teach the rules to Gamora as they went. He could glean a lot off of that. "I think I'm good."

"Alright then. Let's get started," Bucky said. "You all find yourselves in a tavern."

"A tavern, Bucky? Seriously? That's cliche as hell," Sam commented.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't going to use my best material on a one shot, okay? Now shut up before I kill your character."

"Right, right," Sam sighed, "we're at a tavern."

Bucky had everyone go around and state thier name, what they looked like, and why their character was there. Since nothing was specified besides race, Quill got to have fun with it. "My tiefling's name is Asha. She's female and, being a fighter and all, she is muscular as hell. She has several scars, the most notable being one across her face."

"Like Squall from Final Fantasy 8?" Sam asked.

"Exactly like that."

"Nice."

"She has gold eyes, red skin, and long black hair she keeps tied back in a loose braid. I'd say she's at the tavern to celebrate a job she recently completed."

"So she's a mercenary type?" Bucky asked.

"Yup."

"Perfect," Bucky said, jotting down a few more notes. He then went around the rest of the table and got their stories. Gamora struggled a bit with hers so Bucky simplified it by asking her a few questions. She managed to get a good idea of who she wanted her character to be by the end of it. All in all, it was shaping up to be a pretty unique looking group. Once all the introductions were done, Quill expected Bucky to introduce some kind of quest for them to go on. That's not what happened.

Instead, one of the taverns customers dropped over dead and the player characters all became suspects in his murder. To make matters worse, the dead guy turned out to be the son of a powerful noble who was out for blood. The group spent the next few hours breaking out of jail, proving their innocence, and hunting down the real killer. It was a wild ride from start to finish and they only almost all died once.

"That was amazing," Gamora said once Bucky wrapped up, "do you think we could play that again sometime? With the same characters? I kind of want to know what happens to my dragonborn next."

"Looks like someone caught the D&D bug," Sam chuckled. "I wouldn't mind trying to do an actual campaign though."

The rest of the table seemed to be in agreement. Quill wanted to say yes too, but it might not exactly be possible for him. "I might have more schedule conflicts coming up," Quill said, "but I would like to do it too."

"Schedule conflicts?" Darcy asked. Then it dawned on her. "You got the part?"

"Yeah," Quill admitted.

"And if it's going to keep you occupied for awhile it's not just a commercial, huh?"

"It's a TV show."

"Holy shit! That's awesome!"

"It does mean I'll have to quit working at the diner though," Quill said.

"Oh." Darcy's smile immediately fell. Scott looked a bit bummed out at his declaration too.

"B-but that doesn't mean we won't see each other anymore. We can do more things like this. I just... have to figure out how to work it into my schedule."

"...Okay," Darcy said, "but you have to keep us updated on when you have free time, alright? None of this waiting forever to come over nonsense you've been pulling!"

"Yeah. I promise," Quill said. As long as Thor joined in too, he wouldn't have to miss out on spending time with anyone. At least, that's how it all worked out in his head.

\---------------------

"No boyfriend?" Sif asked, taking a place to his side.

"No," Thor sighed, "he'd already promised he'd hang out with some of his other friends."

"I see. That's too bad. Well, maybe next time."

"Yeah," Thor said with yet another sigh.

"Hey, cheer up," Sif said, looking him in the eyes, "this concert will still be fun."

"I know. It would have been funner with him though."

She pat him on the back in an effort to console him as the lights dimmed. The stage lights came on and the three band members walked on stage. Volstagg took a seat in front of the drums while Hogun came out with a bass guitar slung around his shoulders. Fandral seemed to be in charge of the guitar along with vocals as he stepped up to the microphone. "How's everybody doing?" he asked in a smooth, charismatic voice. He'd always been good looking, but now that he was older he seemed to own it. The crowed erupted in cheers. "First of all, we want to thank you all for coming out tonight. Without you, there'd be no show in the first place. Secondly, well, let's get this thing started, shall we?" The crowd responded with another loud cheer. Once it died down, the Warriors Three began to play their instruments.

Sif had undersold them when she said that they were pretty good. They were more than that. Thor couldn't believe how talented his former childhood friends had become. His excitement increased with every knew song. Of course, in the back of his mind, he still couldn't help but wish that Quill was here. As much as he was loving it, he couldn't help thinking that Quill might have enjoyed it even more. Once the band finally wrapped up, Sif took Thor by the hand and said, "come on. I'll get us back stage."

Thor followed her lead as the rest of the crowd filed out, looking forward to finally having a chat with his old buddies.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey guys," Sif said giddily as she opened the door to the backstage room the Warriors Three were currently occupying. She had Thor stay in the hallway in the hopes of surprising them. "I brought someone with me I think you'll be happy to see."

"Is it a groupie?" Volstagg asked, "please tell me we finally got a groupie."

"The person I brought is better than a groupie."

"Well, stop teasing us and bring them in," Fandral said from his seated position.

"There's no way it's better than a groupie," Volstagg muttered to Hogun. Hogun nodded in quiet agreement.

"Want to come in now?" Sif asked, peeking her head out into the hallway where Thor was.

Thor still hadn't settled on how he wanted to greet them. It had been so long. Sif had recognized him, but he wasn't sure they would. Still, there wasn't much point in stalling. If they didn't know who he was, he'd just have to remind them.

When Thor stepped into the doorway, the effect was instantaneous. All three of them froze, eyes going wide. Then, they jumped out of their seats and darted over to Thor to hug him. So much for him not thinking they'd recognize him. "Holy shit! It's Thor," Fandral exclaimed, "I can't believe it!"

Sif smiled smugly and asked Volstagg, "would you still have rather had a groupie?"

"You win this time, Sif," Volstagg admitted, "seeing Thor again is better than getting a groupie."

"The years have been really good to him too," Hogun pointed out, lifting Thor's arm. "Look at these guns!"

"Not to mention the face," Fandral said, "and here I thought I was the pretty one."

"You're still the pretty one," Thor chuckled. With the way they'd accepted him so readily, it almost felt like no time had passed between them at all.

"I'd argue with you, but that is a claim I'd rather not dispute," Fandral said with a playful wink as he backed off. The other two did too, finally giving him room to breathe a little.

"You guys were fantastic, by the way," Thor said.

"Thanks," Hogun said, "we've been putting a lot of work into our band. It's good to know it's working."

"Enough about us though!" Volstagg interjected, "I want to know what's been happening with you."

"Guys," Fandral said, looping a separate arm around each of his fellow musician's shoulders, "if we're going to catch up, we need to do it properly. Therefore, I suggest we all go grab some drinks together!"

"What do you say, Thor? Are you up for that?" Sif asked.

"Hell yeah, I am," Thor grinned.

"Yes!" the Warriors Three cheered, exchanging high fives. "Let's do this!"

\---------------------

Loki gave his best frown of disapproval when he opened the front door to find Sif struggling to support a drunken Thor home. "Hello, Sif," Loki responded somewhat coldly.

"Loki," she said with a nod.

They'd never really gotten along. In fact, Loki had never really gotten along with any of Thor's old friends. They weren't bad people or anything like that. It's just... they'd always favored Thor. None of them ever gave him the impression that they'd like to hang out with him specifically so he'd always felt like a third wheel when he tagged along with them as children. "I wasn't aware you two were hanging out again."

"Does Thor need to tell you everything?" she asked.

"No, but you know he has a boyfriend, right?"

"He told me."

"If you try to get between them, you'll only end up breaking your heart all over again."

"I'm not trying to get between them."

"You tell yourself that now..."

"I'm not," Sif growled.

"He'll never love you."

"Don't you think I know that?" Sif asked, bursting into tears. Loki immediately regretted his words. He'd been trying to be firm with her, but he didn't mean to make her cry.

"Stop being mean, Loki," Thor said, slurring his words.

"Of course, brother," Loki sighed. He turned back to Sif and apologized, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Sif said, rubbing the tears from her eyes and collecting herself. "You're right. I do know that. I still want to be his friend though."

Loki kept his thoughts to himself this time. Sif probably believed she could keep her feelings in check, but... if she was still the girl she used to be, Loki believed otherwise. He had a feeling having her back in Thor's life was going to cause trouble. He just hoped he was wrong. "I'll take him from here," Loki said gently. Sif nodded and passed Thor off to him. "Have a good night, Sif."

"You too, Loki," she said before heading back towards her car in the driveway.

"You are a heartbreaker," Loki muttered as he dragged Thor to the couch and set him down. Thor hadn't heard him though. He'd managed to fall asleep on the way to the couch. Loki crouched down to meet Thor at eye level and sighed as he looked his brother over. "Just don't do that to Quill."

\---------------------

Thor had a raging hangover from the other night, but he didn't let it stop him from meeting up with Quill for breakfast. He'd have to go into the studio soon and shoot his first scene. There was no way Thor wasn't going to be there to cheer him on beforehand. They met up at May's diner and took seats opposite each other as Scott went to fetch them some coffee.

"So, how was your night?" Quill asked.

"Wild," Thor said, "I forgot how crazy those three were."

"Yeah. Loki told me you got really drunk," Quill smiled, "I guess it's been awhile since you've gotten to party like that. I bet you kind of missed it."

Quill had said it casually, but Thor was a bit taken aback by his comment. Did he miss it? Before he'd hooked up with Quill, he'd thrown those sorts of parties all the time. He'd also drunk a lot more. Honestly, he hadn't realized how much he'd calmed down until just now. He was happy with Quill, of course, but maybe he did miss it. Just a little. "I don' t know. I'm probably getting too old for that sort of thing," Thor lied. He froze. Why had he said that? Quill wouldn't have cared if he'd admitted that he missed it.

"You're not old," Quill said, seeing through Thor's fib, "it's fine if you want to party with your friends."

"I missed you though," Thor said. That much was true.

Quill blushed slightly. "Yeah, I wished you were with me at Darcy's too," Quill admitted.

"What did you guys end up doing?"

"We played Dungeons and Dragons," Quill grinned, "it was so much fun! Gamora and Scott played too!" Quill proceeded to tell Thor all about the adventure they'd had together with increasing enthusiasm. Honestly, the more Thor heard, the more depressed he got. He kept it to himself, but it sucked knowing he missed out on doing something fun with Quill. "They want to start an actual campaign. You have to join!"

Instead of replying to Quill, Thor adjusted himself and leaned over the table to kiss Quill. Quill's eyes went wide in surprise. They kissed pretty frequently, but not in public like this. A person from a nearby table dropped their fork in surprise. Quill was embarrassed, but Thor didn't let up. He couldn't. He felt as if he didn't touch Quill now, they'd drift even further apart.

"I'm not going anywhere, Thor," Quill managed once Thor finally let up. It was as if he'd sensed all the doubts that had run through Thor's head.

"You promise?" Thor asked with a frown.

"I promise," Quill said.

Thor pressed his forehead to Quill's and relaxed.

\---------------------

Quill took a deep breath and tried to psyche himself up. There was still time before his first scene, but it did not seem like enough. Of course, even if he'd had another week, Quill still would have been a bundle of nerves. He tried to focus on Stephen and Drax who were currently busy working through the logistics of their next scene with the Grandmaster. They both seemed to have a pretty good idea of what they were doing.

"How are you holding up?" Natasha asked, startling Quill as she walked over to his side.

"Okay, I guess," Quill said, "I'm a bit nervous though."

"That's pretty normal," Natasha said, "especially considering this is your first time on set." She pat him on the shoulder and added, "don't worry though. You've got the talent. We'll make sure you show it."

"Thanks, Natasha."

"Call me Nat."

"Okay. Thank you, Nat," Quill smiled.

"Now... There's something I've been curious about," she started with a sly smile.

"What?"

"That boyfriend of yours. I want to see. Do you have any pictures?"

Quill chuckled and pulled out his phone. When he found a particularly good one of Thor, he handed it over to Natasha.

She slapped his arm. "Get out of here! This is not your boyfriend!" Natasha exclaimed, "this is some super model you pulled off google!"

"No, he's really my boyfriend," Quill said. He was pretty sure she was just teasing him, but he felt the need to say it just in case.

"Let me see," Drax said, coming up to the two of them followed closely by the Grandmaster and Stephen. Apparently, they'd finished up whatever they were doing. Natasha handed Quill his phone. He'd expected her to just show the others, but he supposed this was her way of letting Quill decide if he actually wanted to show them. He didn't mind showing them, but he still appreciated that she did that. Quill positioned his phone so that the rest of them could see it. "Damn!" Drax commented, "now that right there, that is a man."

"He doesn't happen to want to be on TV, does he?" the Grandmaster asked.

"He's kind of busy with his own stuff right now, so I doubt it," Quill answered, "but I can ask."

"Please do."

Stephen withheld any comments he may have had regarding Thor. Instead, he said, "we should really get back to work."

"Oh, don't be like that," the Grandmaster said, "we can spare a few minutes to ogle Quill's boyfriend."

Stephen let out an annoyed sigh and then headed back towards the set.

"Your first scene with Stephen is up next, by the way," the Grandmaster told Quill. "I have some things to go over with the camera crew. You might want to take this time to run through your lines with him."

"Right. I'll do that," Quill said quickly. He put his phone away and then followed Stephen onto the set. "Hey, um, you don't mind running through the scene with me, do you?"

Stephen stared at him a moment before saying, "let's see what you've got."

Quill nodded and then got into position. In the previous scene, Stephen's character had split off from Drax's character so that they could chase different leads. Quill's character was supposed to bump into Stephen and pick his pocket. This was all part of his character's plan to get Stephen to chase him down and meet him one on one. They were going to film that part of the scene tomorrow so Quill just had to worry about the first part. It was simple enough, but that's what also made it hard. There wasn't much room to stand out.

Quill ran through his options in his head for a moment. His character would probably be a little smug about it. He doesn't want Stephen's character to catch on right away, but he does want to leave an impression so that Stephen could find him quickly after the fact. Maybe reading the line as a little flirty would be in order. That was it. That's something that would catch Stephen's character off guard, but still cause him to make note of the incident. Quill played out the scene with all of that in mind. Once they finished, Stephen crossed his arms and thought something over.

"Okay. You clearly have an opinion," Quill said with a frustrated sigh, "what am I doing wrong?"

"You've got the right idea on how to play the scene out," Stephen admitted.

"But..."

"You've only done theater up to this point, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Acting in front of a camera is different from acting on stage. In a theater, the audience doesn't get a good look at your face so you have to compensate for that by dramatizing the way you speak or act. That's what you're used to," Stephen explained, "however, a camera will catch all the tiny details in your performance. You don't need to give the audience the extra queues for them to understand."

"So you're saying that I need to be more subtle?"

"Exactly. But not too subtle. Your character isn't exactly hiding his intentions."

"Got it," Quill said, taking a moment to think Stephen's advice over. When he settled on how he wanted to proceed he asked, "can we run through it again? Oh, and if anything else about my performance bothers you, tell me. I may be new to this, but I still want to do the best job that I can. Don't show me any mercy."

"You're going to regret saying that," Stephen said with an approving smile.


	5. Chapter 5

"He's a total sadist," Quill groaned, setting his head on the table. Lunch was being served on set so he'd grabbed a plate of food and taken a seat across from Drax and Natasha. "We went through that one scene twenty three times! Twenty three times! We barely interact in it and it still took that many times to get his approval. Do I really suck that bad?"

"Only twenty three? Stephen must like you," Drax replied with a laugh.

"H-hold on. Is that actually normal?" Quill asked, sitting up in his seat.

"He can be a bit particular about his work," Natasha said, "but don't take those twenty three tries as a bad sign. If he tolerated you for that long, it means that he believed you could do it. He wouldn't have wasted his time otherwise."

That did make Quill feel a little better.

"Besides, you're happy with the results, right?"

"Well, yeah," Quill admitted, "the attempt we actually filmed felt pretty good."

"That's what I thought," Natasha smiled, "Stephen is rather talented at getting newbies up to speed. I suspect that's why the Grandmaster left you two alone so long."

"You're telling me he wasn't actually busy that whole time?"

"Oh, he definitely wasn't," Drax said, "I caught him grabbing a doughnut while you two were still going at it."

"So, he basically had Stephen do his job for him."

"In fairness, Stephen was probably going to end up doing it anyway," Natasha commented, "it's more like... he gave Stephen creative freedom?"

"I'm not buying that."

Natasha chuckled, "that is how he'd phrase it though."

"Oh, hey! Quentin!" Drax said suddenly, calling to someone passing by. Quill turned slightly to get a better look. "Have you met Quill yet?"

"I can't say I've had the pleasure," Quentin said.

"Well, get over here then!" Drax said, waving him over. Quentin changed course and headed over to their table. Once he was closer, Drax made the introductions for them. 

"Quentin, this is Peter Quill. Quill, Quentin Beck."

"Nice too meet you, man," Quill said, offering Quentin his hand.

Quentin shook it and said, "likewise."

"This guy right here is responsible for our show's special effects," Drax explained, "we've done a few gigs together in the past and, let me tell you, this guy is a master of his craft."

"I don't know about that, but I do love it. Practical effects are my bread and butter. I have been doing some neat things with CGI lately though."

"Okay. You might want to sit down because I have a ton of questions for you," Quill said, "first and foremost, what is the craziest effect you've ever done?"

"The craziest, huh?" Quentin asked, taking Quill's advice and joining the three of them at the table. "That's a hard call. There is a particularly good one in this horror film I was a part of though."

\---------------------

After talking with Quentin, Quill decided to stop by a electronics store on his way home and pick up a few of the movies his new friend had worked on. He wanted to see what sort of things he could expect Quentin to incorporate into the TV show, but he also figured it was a good excuse to have an impromptu movie night with Thor. Of course, no matter which house they chose, he wasn't going to be able to get out of inviting some of the others. Their living rooms weren't exactly private spaces.

"Hey, Peter," Quill said, addressing his brother, "I bought a couple of movies I want to watch and I'm going to go see if our neighbors are interested. You in?"

"Uh, sure," Peter said shyly, "but you aren't going to say anything to Loki, right? About what I told you?"

"Dude, I'm not worried about your relationship right now. I'm more concerned about mine."

"You and Thor are having issues?" Peter asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"N-not issues," Quill responded, instantly regretting his word choice, "it's just been hard to get together and do stuff." He avoided mentioning that they hadn't had sex in about a month because, A, Peter didn't need to know that, and, B, it was probably a sensitive subject for the kid at the moment. Still, Quill would be lying if he said it wasn't on his mind. And if he was this wound up about it, he was sure Thor was too.

"I'll see if I can invite Loki over for a bit after whatever movie we end up watching," Peter said, getting the gist, "and Mantis is staying over at Hela's place tonight so you don't have to worry about her."

Quill couldn't believe that he'd gotten that lucky-- and that his brother was such a saint! "I will remember this," Quill said dramatically, as if he owed Peter a life debt.

"I just thought it'd be nice to get some alone time with Loki," Peter shrugged.

Quill ruffled his hair affectionately and together they headed next door. Quill had been expecting Loki to answer the door, but this time it was Thor. Quill smiled and lifted up the movie he'd picked out for the evening, "what do you say? Got time for a movie night?"

"I think I can manage that," Thor replied with a grin.

"Do you think Loki would want to join us?" Peter asked.

"What kind of movie?" Loki asked from somewhere inside the house. Quill guessed the couch. Thor stepped aside and let them in. Sure enough, Loki was already parked in front of the TV watching some sort of sitcom.

"I don't know why you bother asking," Thor said, "we already know you're going to watch it."

"I'd still like to know what I'm in for," Loki snapped back.

"It's a horror film," Quill added.

"The so bad it's good kind or the actually deep and thoughtful kind?"

"I haven't watched it yet, but from what the cashier said, it sounds like it's actually good."

"What are we waiting for then? Throw it in."

Quill set up the movie and then joined the other three on the couch. Thor wrapped an arm around his shoulder and Quill responded by cuddling up to him a bit. Peter looked like he was debating trying to do the same thing with Loki, but didn't ultimately go through with it. Loki didn't seem to notice as he hit the play button on the remote. "Oh, wait," Loki paused it. He got up and switched off the lights before resuming the movie and reclaiming his spot next to Peter.

At the start of the film, the four of them talked a bit, commenting on something they saw or cracking a joke or two. However, once the horror elements started leaking into the story everyone was silent, totally captivated by the film. Quill had a bit of a spoiler since Quentin had told him about one particular scene, but it was still satisfying to see on screen. The other three hadn't seen it coming. When the credits finally rolled, Peter spoke up first, "that was amazing!"

"I can't believe I hadn't heard of this film until today," Loki commented, turning to Quill, "how on Earth did you find out about it?"

"One of the guys working on special effects for the Grandmaster's TV show also did some stuff for this movie. He was telling me about it during lunch and I thought I'd check it out," Quill said, "his name is Quentin Beck and he seems like a really cool guy."

Both Peter and Loki froze upon hearing his name. "O-oh, that's nice," Loki said, pretending to dismiss the comment. Peter frowned, but said nothing.

Before Quill could figure out something was wrong, Thor spoke up. "We actually went to high school with him, right, Loki?"

"Did we? I can't remember."

"Anyway," Peter interrupted, "Loki and I are going to take our leave now."

"We are?" Loki asked, startled by the sudden declaration.

"It's okay, right?" Peter asked, giving him puppy dog eyes, "I want to hang out for a bit."

There was no resisting that face. Loki sighed and let Peter drag him out of the house. Quill wasted no time. He turned towards Thor and said, "so... Looks like we have the house to ourselves for a bit."

Thor grinned and then pulled Quill in for a kiss.

\---------------------

It was a nice night. Unfortunately, Loki had trouble enjoying it as he was currently in panic mode. He walked alongside Peter in silence, but he was sure that both of their heads were buzzing with all sorts of thoughts. "You know," Loki started, "you don't have to worry about Quentin."

"I-I wasn't worried about Quentin," Peter said quickly, though the stutter in his voice gave him away.

"Oh, then I guess I don't need to bother saying what I was going to say."

Peter responded predictably. "You can still say it. You know, if you want to." 

Loki smiled to himself. He really was adorable when he was trying to pretend he didn't care. Loki took a second to gather his thoughts and then continued, "I'm happy with you. I don't need or feel like looking for a romantic relationship with someone else."

"Really?" Peter asked.

"Really."

"Then why don't we have sex?" Peter asked, averting his gaze and blushing a bright red.

Loki was sure his own cheeks were a similar color. He'd been sort of wondering when that would come up. He knew he couldn't keep avoiding it forever, but he'd put it off as long as he could.

"Is it because you still see me as a kid? Because that's the only explanation I can think of."

"I-It's not that," Loki admitted, turning an even darker shade of red, "it's just... this is my first relationship. Ever. And..." Loki gave himself a fifty-fifty chance of dying from embarrassment on the spot as he finished, "I don't really know how."

Peter blinked.

"I mean, I'm not a total prude. I've seen porn and I've even looked up some information, but... it's all really intimidating."

"Why do you think you have to figure all of that out on your own?"

"Hm?" Loki looked at Peter, surprised by the question. "I'm the older one so it's only natural that I--"

"So what?" Peter asked, crossing his arms, "age has nothing to do with it. So, we're both inexperienced. Who cares? That just means we'll have to experiment and figure out what works for us." Peter then took Loki's hands in his and looked him in the eyes. With a suave smile, he added, "I'm really good at conducting experiments, by the way."

Loki snorted at that. "You can't seriously be thinking of applying the scientific method to the bedroom."

"I think there could be some potential merit there," Peter grinned, "for instance, I hypothesize that a kiss from you would feel really good right about now."

Loki smiled and leaned in, kissing Peter gently on the lips. He let it linger for a moment before pulling back and saying, "you are such a nerd."

"An adorable one though, right?"

"You are that," Loki agreed.

\---------------------

Quill rested on top of Thor's chest. Thor was a cuddler so, after having sex, Quill had to endure being wrapped up in Thor's arms for an unspecified amount of time. It wasn't exactly a hardship. It definitely made him feel loved. He didn't want to ruin the mood, but there was something he'd been meaning to talk to Thor about. "Hey, Thor," Quill started.

"What is it?" Thor asked, gently brushing some of Quill's hair aside.

"I meant to mention it earlier, but... I might have to do this sort of thing with other people. You know, for my role," Quill explained, "the Grandmaster's TV show isn't exactly G-rated." Thor didn't immediately respond. Quill could tell he was just as blindsided by the fact as he'd been. It was a natural conclusion to draw, but for some reason the possibility had slipped his mind too. "Are you okay with that?"

"It's your job, right? I can't tell you to not do it for my sake."

"But you want to tell me that."

Thor frowned. "I'm that easy to read?"

"Kind of," Quill smiled, "and it's okay to feel weird about it. I feel weird about it."

"It'll take some getting used to, that's for sure. But... I guess as long as I'm the only one who has your heart, I'll find some way to make peace with it. I don't know how you're going to explain that to Yondu and May though."

"Don't even get me started," Quill groaned, "they're definitely going to want to watch the show, but if I do end up having to do things like that... It'll be so awkward. I might as well be starring in a porno."

"Hmm... Quill in a porno," Thor chuckled, "that's an interesting idea. Maybe we should make one. You know, so you can practice your acting. We could do that sci fi foreplay scenario you like."

"As much as I enjoy that, I don't exactly want physical proof of that lying around," Quill said, "but maybe I'll think about it for your birthday or something."

"I can't wait," Thor replied, planting an affectionate kiss on Quill's forehead.


	6. Chapter 6

Day two. This was going to be the real test of his abilities as far as Quill was concerned. He took a deep breath and focused. In a few minutes, he'd be running through his first real scene with Stephen. Sure, there was that smaller one from before, but this scene was the first one where he'd get to make his mark on the show. Quill just hoped that he'd be able to get through it without twenty plus tries this time. Still, if that's what it took, that's what he'd do.

"You're up, Quill," the Grandmaster called from his director's chair.

"Got it," Quill replied, walking onto the set. His character, Caleb Marsh, used an old book store as his base of operations. It was messy, with stacks of books everywhere. His character knew where to find what he was looking for, but a stranger would be hard pressed to do the same. Quill took a seat behind the counter and set his feet on top of it in a careless manner. It was definitely unprofessional, but Caleb didn't actually care about selling books as his real job was selling information. Quill grabbed a book and pretended to be looking through it as the Grandmaster had Stephen start the scene.

Stephen walked into the store, an irritated expression on his face.

"I'm impressed," Quill said, keeping his eyes on the book as he smiled, "I thought I'd be able to get in a few more chapters before you found me." That said, he closed the book and tossed it on the counter, now giving Stephen his undivided attention.

"I don't appreciate being toyed with."

"I could tell. That scowl on your face kind of gave it away. Scary."

"Give it back," Stephen growled. In the last scene they'd had together, Caleb had stolen a pocket watch from Stephen's character, Ian Blackwell. It had some sentimental value to Ian apparently, but Quill didn't know what that was. It was one of those secrets that would eventually be explained if the show ran long enough. Apparently, the only ones who knew what it meant to the character at this point in time were Stephen himself and the Grandmaster.

"Calm down, okay? I always planned on giving it back," Quill said, getting up from his seat and going over to one of the shelves. He moved one of the books, revealing the spot he'd hidden the pocket watch. He then picked it up and took it over to Stephen. "I take it this thing has some sentimental value then?"

"That's not really any of your business," Stephen said, snatching the watch from Quill's hand.

"Fair enough. Anyway, my name is Caleb Marsh."

"I don't care."

"Come on, don't be like that. Us humans need to stick together," Quill replied, casually taking a seat on the counter this time.

Stephen hesitated, looking at Quill with a renewed interest. "You know then?"

"About the vampires? Hell yes, I do. In fact, I might know more about the vampires than most of the vampires do. Which is why I think you might find my services particularly useful. I work as an information broker. If there's something you need to know, I can find it out-- for a price, of course."

The rest of the scene consisted of Ian trying to assess Caleb's abilities by getting him to share some information for free. Caleb is sharp enough to know what's going on, but goes along with it this time because, in his own words, Ian is good looking. Caleb proceeds to give Ian-- and thus, the audience-- a basic overview of the clans and earns a little bit of good will. Ian leaves, but states that he may make use of Caleb's services in the future. 

"And cut!" the Grandmaster said.

Quill felt pretty good about his acting. He was sure that Stephen would have notes but, considering how things had gone, he was sure he could nail it in under ten tries this time. He looked in Stephen's direction and waited.

"What?" Stephen asked.

"Aren't you going to say anything about my performance?" Quill asked. Honestly, getting no comments was scarier than Stephen correcting everything. It made Quill feel like he'd done so poorly that Stephen had given up hope on him.

"You really need me to say it?"

Quill chewed his bottom lip nervously.

"You did well," Stephen admitted.

"And by well, he means you were perfect," the Grandmaster clarified, "I'm confident in saying that we got everything we needed in one take."

"Really?" Quill asked skeptically.

"How much praise do you need before you believe that you're actually a decent actor?" Steven asked with an irritated sigh.

It was said in an insulting manner, but the comment couldn't have made Quill happier. Stephen was the kind of person who'd only say that sort of thing if he meant it, after all.

"Go take a break," the Grandmaster said, "you have more scenes coming up later. I expect them to go just as smoothly as this one."

"R-right!" Quill stammered, "I'll go memorize my lines right now!"

\---------------------

"I told you," the Grandmaster said smugly after Quill had left. "You have to admit that he's the right fit for the part."

Stephen groaned. "I never said that he wasn't."

"You've certainly been acting like you thought he wasn't."

"My objections have nothing to do with his acting abilities," Stephen clarified, "it's just... he has no idea what he's getting into. Quill may think you're doing him a favor, but there is no way he realizes how this role will turn his life upside down. A more experienced actor would at least have had an inkling."

"You're actually worried about him," the Grandmaster replied with a smug smile.

Stephen crossed his arms and responded with a silent glare. That had certainly gotten under his skin.

"Quill seems pretty adaptable to me. He'll be fine. And if he isn't, well, you'll be there to keep him together if that instant celebrity status does end up being too much of a burden."

"That's not my job."

"Neither was walking him through his first scene, but you still did that anyway."

"That was different. His performance directly affected mine so it was in my best interest to cooperate."

"Sure, if that's the excuse you want to use," the Grandmaster shrugged. Whether Stephen realized it or not, he was already invested in Quill. The Grandmaster felt confident that all he had to do was sit back and let Stephen work his magic. "Twenty three times though. I wouldn't have thought it'd take you that long to whip him into shape."

"He didn't need twenty three times," Stephen said bluntly, "I was mostly just testing his resolve after the first five tries. I would have taken it even further, but I ran out of excuses to keep having him redo it."

"Quill was right. You are a sadist. That's his problem though, not mine. Anyway, I think I'll use my original idea for the script after all. Assuming you have no objections."

"...I don't."

"Good. That's settled then," the Grandmaster said, slapping Stephen on the back. "Keep up the good work."

\---------------------

Tony had Jessica on video chat as he worked in his lab. He'd managed to catch her when she wasn't in the middle of things this time so he was actually able to have a real conversation with her-- even if that conversation mostly consisted of how obnoxious her new assistant, Gillian, was. Tony had met Gillian and she'd been perfectly pleasant. Still, he didn't bother calling Jessica on it. It was just how she expressed her affection.

Once Jessica had tired that subject, Tony went ahead and brought up the topic he'd wanted to discuss when he called her. "So, Jess, I'm going to need some help here," Tony said, "what am I doing wrong?"

"How am I supposed to know? You're the scientist, you figure it out. Or ask Peter and his friends."

"I was talking about with us," Tony smiled, "what can I do to get you to say yes already?"

"That again," Jessica sighed.

"Yes, that again."

She shrugged, "I don't know."

"Okay," Tony frowned, "I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with that."

"Look, it's nothing against you. It's just... marriage? I don't know if that's something I want."

"If it makes you feel better, Tony, I think she's crazy," Gillian shouted from somewhere else in Jessica's office.

"Shut up, Gillian," Jessica snapped back.

"He isn't even making you sign a prenup! I don't know why you're dragging this out."

Tony went back to work, knowing that this would take a few minutes. It was nice having Gillian on his side though. It was nice knowing he wasn't completely insane for feeling a bit frustrated. He really didn't get why she kept saying no. It's not like he was asking her to have kids. Literally nothing about their relationship had to change-- except the fact that they'd have a piece of paper proving they belonged to each other, of course. He'd told her that too. She'd still said no. And that was her right, of course. But it didn't keep Tony from fearing the worst about where their relationship was heading. He loved her and he thought that she loved him too, but she never wanted anything to change.

"Hey, Mr. Stark," Peter said, coming into the lab and setting his backpack down against the wall.

"Ah, Peter, hey," Tony smiled, "what's happening? I didn't think we were meeting up today." He went to check his calendar, but Peter stopped him.

"We're not scheduled too. I just thought I'd ask for some advice, if you have the time." Peter looked at the phone. Jessica was still arguing with Gillian.

"Yeah. I've got a minute. They'll be at it for a bit longer. I can call Jessica back if it's a private matter."

"Mm, not really. I mean, it is, but I'm okay with them overhearing."

Tony leaned against the table and gave Peter his full attention, "alright, shoot."

"I'm going on a date with Loki tonight and, um, this one is really important, if you know what I mean."

"Use protection," Tony said immediately, "doesn't matter if you're both guys."

"R-right, of course," Peter blushed. "That was the plan. I just... is there anything special you do? 'Cause I know you've had a bunch of lovers in the past. I figured..."

"Start slow and listen to what your partner says," Tony said, "that'll get you through most situations. Also, lube. I don't know exactly how it works with guys, but I imagine you'll want all that you can get."

"It also wouldn't hurt to buy some flowers," Gillian interjected. Apparently, her and Jessica were done arguing and were now fully focused on the situation at hand. "Flowers are always nice."

"I don't know. Flowers are kind of tacky, don't you think?" Jessica grumbled.

"Trust me, honey. If Tony showed up randomly with flowers, even your cold, dead heart would skip a beat. Unless it was Valentine's day. In that case, you'd have my permission to be sorely disappointed in his lack of originality." Gillian made her way into the camera's view and addressed Peter directly, "don't worry, sweetie. Just remember to breathe and everything will work out just fine."

"Thanks, Gillian," Peter smiled.

Flowers, huh? Tony took a minute to think it over. Would Jessica really respond to something like that. Alcohol was what he usually got her because she was guaranteed to enjoy that. Still, it wasn't exactly the healthiest gift or the most creative. Maybe Gillian was onto something.

\---------------------

"What's Hela doing here?" Thor asked, getting home for the day and noticing his sister sitting at the dining table and fiddling with her phone.

"Mantis asked me to come over," Hela said, not bothering to look up, "apparently, her first sleep over at my place was so much fun that she wanted to have another one as soon as possible."

"And Hela just couldn't tell her no," Loki said with a chuckle.

"The girl never got a chance to have a proper childhood. I don't think it's terrible to spoil her a little now," Hela said, unphased by Loki's comment. She put her phone down on the table and turned her attention to Thor, "we should talk before she gets home though."

"About the company?"

"It does concern that indirectly, yes. Our father gets out of jail soon."

"But he doesn't run the company anymore."

Hela laughed. "If you think that will stop him from getting involving himself, you're kidding yourself."

"Well, even if that's true, that doesn't have to be a bad thing. He seemed fine with the direction we've been taking things the last time I talked to him."

"I hope you're right," Hela sighed, "but I doubt things will work out that conveniently."

"Between the three of us, we should be able to keep him in check," Loki said.

"Just be careful, alright? Especially you, Thor."

Before he could ask what she meant by that, Mantis came home. Hela smiled and got up to greet her. Honestly, it was still kind of weird seeing Hela with a sincere smile on her face. Thor had gotten so used to the more sinister one she used to use all the time. Together, they headed to Mantis' room, leaving Loki and Thor behind.

"They should just hurry up and get together already," Loki said.

"Hm? Mantis and Hela?"

"You can't tell me you haven't noticed."

Thor hadn't. "I just thought Hela was spending more time with us."

"You're really hopeless sometimes, brother," Loki said, punctuating his sentence with a dramatic sigh.

"Well, I guess it's just us for the evening then, huh? Want to go do something?"

"Can't. I've got a date. It's kind of an important one too."

"You and Peter are going to finally have sex?"

Loki turned a bright red. "Yes, but shut up about it," he grumbled.

Thor grinned. "I still can't believe it took this long."

"Not everyone is a sex crazed beast like you, you know? Anyway, I'm leaving now," Loki said, standing up, "there's leftovers in the fridge if you're too lazy to make yourself anything."

Thor sighed and took a seat at the table as Loki left the house. So, no Mantis, no Hela, and no Loki. Quill wouldn't be getting back until late today either. Thor sighed and rested his head on the table. He really hated being alone. Maybe... He perked up and pulled out his phone. He went ahead and texted Sif, figuring she wouldn't mind chatting for a bit. He seemed to be right about that as she replied immediately. A few minutes into their conversation, Sif mentioned that she was going to see a movie. It was a romantic comedy so she wasn't sure Thor would be interested, but she extended the invitation anyway. Since Thor didn't have anything else going on at the moment, he accepted.


	7. Chapter 7

Quill was on his way out the door the next morning when he noticed Peter curled up on the couch looking glum. He didn't really have time to stop, but he did anyway. "Hey," he said gently, "what's up?"

Peter shifted so he was sitting up as he said, "you've got to go to work."

"I know, but..."

"I'm okay. Really."

Quill wasn't satisfied with that. Again though, time was a factor. He quickly thought his options over and said, "want to grab dinner together later? I don't think May and Yondu will mind having the house to themselves for a bit and, well, if you decide you want to talk, we can talk. Either way, it'll be good to get some one on one time with my bro."

"Yeah, alright," Peter said, perking up slightly.

"Cool. I'll text you when I'm done for the day so we can meet up."

"Sounds good. Now get out of here before you're late already."

"Right, right. I'm going. See you later, bro," Quill said with a smile. He continued his way out the door and headed towards the studio.

Once there, the first person he ran into was Stephen. "You're late," he said disapprovingly.

"By like one minute," Quill said, exasperated.

"My watch says three."

"Yeah, well, maybe your watch is off a bit."

"You wish. And, even if it is, a minute late is still late."

"Fine, you're right. I'm sorry, okay?"

"You know, for an actor you don't sound very convincing."

"Give him a break, Stephen," the Grandmaster said, striding up to the two of them, "as long as he doesn't make a habit of it, it's fine."

"You're too careless."

"Yes, yes, I'm sure. Anyway, Quill, we have something important to discuss!"

Stephen rolled his eyes, giving Quill the impression that whatever the Grandmaster had to say was not nearly as important as he was making it out to be.

"What do we have to discuss?" Quill asked curiously.

"I'm throwing a party tomorrow. I would have invited you earlier, but I didn't decide I wanted to have one until yesterday night. That's neither here nor there though. It's going to be big and I want you and the rest of the cast to be there!"

"You should consider going," Stephen commented, "the Grandmaster's parties are infamous so all sorts of celebrities end up attending. It's a good way to network."

"And it'll be fun. You forgot the most important part, Stephen."

Stephen shrugged.

"Can I bring my boyfriend?" Quill asked.

"Can you bring your boyfriend? Psh. Everyone gets a plus one so of course you can," the Grandmaster said dismissively before leaning in and adding a whispered, "and, even if that weren't the case, I would definitely make an exception for that dreamboat of a man." Raising his voice back to it's normal level, the Grandmaster continued. "Which reminds me, the orgy starts at 11 so if you don't want to be a part of it, you'll want to leave before then. Everyone is welcome though." The Grandmaster gave Quill a wink and then hurried off to invite Quentin who happened to be passing by at the time.

"A good way to network, huh?" Quill asked, a bit of judgement in his tone as he turned to Stephen.

"It is. Just... Make sure you keep a better eye on the clock than you did today," Stephen said, blushing slightly in embarrassment. It was actually kind of adorable. Quill couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease him.

"Are you actually blushing?" Quill asked with a mischievous grin, "I didn't think your face was actually capable of something like that!"

"I assure you, I have a normal human face. It is capable of everything yours is."

"I don't know. Smiling seems to be rather difficult for you."

"Well, in my defense, being around you would make anyone miserable," Stephen said, cracking a smile despite his words.

"That is blatantly not true," Quill chuckled, "you know you like me."

Stephen opened his mouth to retort, then hesitated. It was as if a thought had suddenly occurred to him. Quill didn't have time to process what that reaction meant, however, as the Grandmaster interrupted their conversation by shouting, "you two! Stop flirting and get to make up already! We've got work to do!"

"Right, we're coming!" Quill called back.

Stephen cleared his throat and moved past Quill. It might have just been Quill's imagination, but Stephen's face did look a little redder.

\---------------------

When Quill got off work, he saw that he had a few text messages from Thor asking if he wanted to meet up. As he'd already made arrangements with Peter, that wasn't going to work out. Quill briefly humored the idea of inviting Thor along too, but he knew he'd never get Peter to talk if he did. So, in the end, Quill sighed and gave Thor a call. If they couldn't see each other today, it'd be nice to at least hear his voice.

"Hey," Thor replied, "did you get my texts?"

"I did. And, of course, I can't. Peter seemed a bit down so I said I'd take him to dinner. It doesn't feel like the sort of thing I can just invite you along to," Quill explained. "I'd say we could hang out after, but... Well, depending on what's bothering Peter, it might take awhile. I don't want to rush him through whatever's going on."

"Ah."

"I'm really sorry."

"Don't be. I can't exactly fault you for spending time with your family."

"I know, but... this just sucks. I want to spend time with you too."

"We'll figure it out."

"Oh! Actually, there's this thing! The Grandmaster is throwing a party. Maybe you can go?"

"When is it?"

"Tomorrow."

Thor sighed, telling Quill all he needed to know. "It's my turn to be sorry. I said I'd have dinner with an important business partner tomorrow. Though... I might be able to cancel--"

"No canceling!" Quill heard Loki shout from somewhere in the background. "Pissing off Ronan is a good way to lose several of our business partners."

"It's okay, Thor. Like you said, we'll figure it out," Quill said gently. He was believing those last few words less and less these days though. "Maybe I could leave the party early."

"No. I don't want you to do that. A party like that is probably a good opportunity for you, right?"

"Yeah," Quill said, heart sinking.

"What is your weekend like?"

"I should have a little time then," Quill perked up immediately. "You want to try to catch a movie together or something?"

"Yeah. Sure. Was there one you wanted to see in particular?"

"Hm. What's even up?"

Thor must have pulled up a list on his computer or something because he started going through all of them. When a particular romantic comedy came up, he said, "that one was pretty good. I wouldn't mind seeing it again."

"Wait. You've already seen that one?" Quill asked, "when did you have time to go to the movies?"

"Just the other day. You were working late so I went with Sif."

Quill froze. Thor had said it casually, as if it was no big deal. It probably wasn't. Still, Quill couldn't help but hone in on the fact that he'd gone with Sif. As in, the woman who was technically his fiancee, Sif. Thor hadn't thought that was worth mentioning? Quill reeled his emotions in. That was actually a good thing, right? It meant that Thor didn't think that much of it. After all, he would have probably asked Quill if he'd thought it'd be problematic. Or, he would have avoided telling Quill at all. The fact that he'd dropped it so casually meant Quill shouldn't be overthinking it. But he was overthinking it.

"You're talking about your fiancee, right?" Quill asked to buy himself time to think of something more proper to say.

"Ex-fiancee," Thor clarified, "We're just friends. She knows you're my boyfriend."

That was good. Quill would still feel better if she wasn't in the picture at all though. Still, he wasn't about to say that out loud. Thor could be friends with whoever he wanted. Quill just had to get over himself. "Right. Well, if you've already seen that movie we should probably pick a different one," Quill said, trying to steer away from the whole Sif subject. He didn't want to know. He didn't want to think about Thor seeing a movie with her. A romantic one. Just the two of them. "How about that horror one you listed earlier?"

Thor chuckled.

"What?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking that you really enjoy going to see the ones with the worst reviews. It's cute."

"W-well, somebody has to watch them," Quill said defensively, "plus... if it's lame, you'll pay more attention to me."

"I want to take you right now."

"And I'm hanging up. Love you."

"Love you too, Quill."

\---------------------

"How'd work go?" Peter asked, picking up his backpack and slinging it across his shoulder as he got up to meet Quill. He'd finished up with his classes awhile ago, but had decided to stay on campus to study while he waited for Quill to come pick him up.

"Not as smooth as yesterday, but I figured it out in the end," Quill replied, "how was school?"

"Same old, same old."

"Nothing exciting, huh?"

"I wouldn't say that. Just nothing more exciting than usual."

"So school isn't the problem then?"

"Already on to that, huh?"

"Right, sorry. We'll build up to that," Quill said as Peter got into the car. They then went over their options before deciding on an Italian place for dinner. It was a bit fancier than Quill would have usually gone for, but he'd be getting paid for his acting soon enough. Splurging a little wasn't out of the question. Besides, if it put Peter in a good mood, it was well worth the extra cost.

After ordering their food, Quill figured he'd extend the invitation to the Grandmaster's party to Peter. Since Thor couldn't go, he still had a plus one open, after all. "It'll probably be pretty wild," Quill said, "but a bunch of people from our current project are going. You should be able to meet Drax."

"I, uh, have to confess... I was never as into him as you were," Peter said. When Quill's jaw dropped, Peter course corrected, "but it'd still be cool to meet him and the others! I'm definitely interested in going!"

"Alright... I'll pretend I didn't hear that first thing," Quill said, eyes narrowed.

The continued their conversation by discussing the various celebrities they might run into at the party for awhile before their food came. They never did end up discussing what had been bothering Peter, but the outing still did it's job in cheering him up. Quill figured that was good enough.

\---------------------

"Well, this isn't the boyfriend," the Grandmaster commented. It was the night of his party and, as arranged earlier, Quill had come with Peter instead of Thor.

"Thor couldn't make it so I invited my brother instead," Quill explained.

"Uh, hi," Peter said, feeling a bit shy. All the celebrities he'd already seen combined with the lavish decoration of the Grandmaster's house really brought home how out of place he was. "I'm Peter."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Peter," the Grandmaster said, using both of his hand's to shake Peter's. "Make yourself at home and, remember, there's only one rule: enjoy yourself!"

"O-of course."

With that, the Grandmaster excused himself, leaving Peter and Quill to wander the house as they pleased. Drax was the first person Quill introduced Peter too. His older brother basically just gushed about how amazing the ex-wrestler was while Peter just nodded in agreement. It was easier to just let Quill wear himself out. Natasha came over and introduced herself. She was really pretty in person-- and nice. She asked Peter about his classes and seemed genuinely interested in what he had to say. Eventually, the two of them split off and Quill took Peter to meet another one of his new acquaintances. Unfortunately, this one was one Peter already knew.

"This is Quentin Beck," Quill said excitedly, "he's the one who worked on the special effects for that movie we all watched together."

"So you did end up getting it?" Quentin asked curiously. 

"I did. And it was well worth the watch. Your work is amazing."

"Well, thank you. I appreciate that," Quentin smiled, "anyway, this is your brother?" Quentin was acting like he didn't know who Peter was. Of course, Peter supposed that it was possible that he really didn't. They'd only met the one time and Quentin had definitely been more interested in Loki. To top it off, it had been a few years. Peter supposed he should just play along and pretend that he hadn't met Quentin before.

"Peter," he said, offering his hand for Quentin to shake.

"Quentin. Of course, you already knew that thanks to your brother. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Same."

"Excuse me for interrupting, gentlemen," the Grandmaster said, coming between the three of them, "but can I steal Quill for a minute? There's someone I'd like to introduce him to."

"Will you be okay on your own for a bit?" Quill asked Peter.

"Yeah. Totally," he said, "I'll just get to know Quentin here a bit better or something."

Quill nodded and then allowed the Grandmaster to lead him off into the crowd. Peter wasn't sure he liked being left alone with Quentin, but maybe this could be an opportunity to learn what Loki liked about him so much.

"You still dating Loki?" Quentin asked, suddenly dropping the pretense that they hadn't met before. So he had recognized Peter after all!

"How did you know we're dating?"

"I figured that you were probably the reason he never called me," Quentin said with a casual shrug, "don't worry though. I'm not holding a grudge or anything like that. All is fair in love and war, right?"

"Right," Peter said cautiously, "you're really not mad?"

"Quite a bit of time has passed, kid. I'm over it. My work will always be my first love anyway. I will admit to a bit of curiosity though. How'd you win him over? Because he pretty clearly saw you as a kid when we ran into each other. That's why I still thought I had a chance."

"I, um, just kind of came out and said I liked him and that I was going to ask him out once I turned eighteen."

"Bold. I like it."

"Well, to be honest, it was meeting you that made me realize I had to say something." Peter didn't know why he was telling Quentin this much. It was weird, but he just seemed kind of easy to talk to.

"How's he doing, by the way?"

"Loki?"

"Yeah."

"He's doing well," Peter said, keeping his answer short. Quentin noticed.

"Relationship trouble?"

"I-I didn't say that!"

"No, but I'm right, right?"

Peter frowned and turned his gaze towards the floor. "We... tried to have sex a couple nights ago. And before you say anything I know that it took forever!"

"I wasn't judging. I know Loki, remember? He's not exactly one to take initiative when it comes to that sort of thing." Peter relaxed a little. Quentin did get it. "What went wrong?"

"Neither of us are experienced. I looked up some stuff and I thought I knew what I was doing, but... I ended up accidentally hurting him. He forgave me, but I think he'll be more averse to that kind of stuff going forward."

Quentin took a moment to think his answer over. "Was that the first time you'd done anything like that? Anything that would be considered sex, I mean."

"Yeah. Why?"

"Well, it sounds like you tried to force things too quickly. You're both inexperienced so it would have been better to build to that instead of starting with it, you catch my drift?" When Peter gave him a slightly confused look, Quentin went into more detail. It was an embarrassing conversation, but Quentin never made Peter feel bad about it. And Quentin gave him a lot of good information. It was probably the sort of conversation he should have been having with Quill, but it was a lot harder talking to someone you had to see every day. "Another thing about Loki... I think your relationship will work out best if you're gentle in the bedroom, but a little more aggressive outside of it. Make his heart skip a beat."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

Quentin stood up straight and moved a little closer to Peter. Peter didn't think too much about it until Quentin pressed him against the wall and leaned in, tilting Peter's chin upward so that their lips were about a centimeter apart. Peter's heart had definitely skipped a beat. Quentin gave him a satisfied smile and then backed off, saying, "try something like that."

Quentin was dangerous. But that's probably exactly what had attracted Loki to him. Peter hated to admit he kind of found Quentin intriguing himself.


	8. Chapter 8

When the Grandmaster said he wanted to introduce Quill to someone, what he actually meant was that he wanted to introduce Quill to everyone and their grandmother. Thus Quill spent the next hour or so being paraded about. It was fun at first. After all, nearly everyone he met was a celebrity in their own right. However, the novelty of it started to wear thin as the evening went on. And, any semblance of enthusiasm Quill managed to summon was abruptly eliminated when the Grandmaster introduced him to his next guest.

"And this handsome devil over here is Ego!" the Grandmaster said, clapping Ego on the shoulder to get his attention. Quill's biological father turned towards him with a pleasant smile. When he saw that he was being introduced to Quill, his facade broke for a split second. Then, he resumed his smile and acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary. "Ego, this is Quill. He's a newbie, but he's talented. You can expect good things from him."

"Is that so? Well, I guess I'll look forward to seeing his work," Ego said pleasantly, "it's nice to meet you, Quill."

"Yeah," Quill muttered. Ego extended his hand to shake Quill's. Quill didn't return the gesture. Instead, he excused himself. "Ahem. I'm sorry, but I think something I ate didn't agree with me. I could really use the bathroom."

As soon as the Grandmaster gave him directions, Quill was off. Unfortunately, Ego wasn't far behind. "Peter, wait," he said.

"No. I don't want to have anything to do with you."

"With good reason, but please. I want to apologize."

Quill hesitated. Ego took advantage of that opportunity.

"You were right. What I did to Mantis was unforgivable. I see that now."

"Do you?" Quill asked angrily, turning towards Ego, "what you did to her was fucked up! The fact that you even thought that was okay in the first place--"

"I know," Ego said, "I know. You're right to be angry with me. I deserved that punch you gave me and more. But Peter..."

"What?"

"You're still my son and I don't want to lose you. I know I don't deserve it, but please. Give me another chance."

"No," Quill responded. Despite the firm answer he'd given, he was torn. A small part of him wanted to buy into this sudden change of heart-- even if there was a good chance it was total bullshit. Ego was a lot of things, but he was also still Quill's father. "You don't deserve another chance. You're not the type of person who is just going to change on your own. You're just saying what you think I want to hear."

"I'm no--" Ego stopped himself and frowned. He took a second to gather his thoughts and said, "you are not entirely wrong. Still... I think I could change for the better if you were there to keep me on the right path."

Quill didn't have a response to that.

"Just think about it, alright?" Ego asked with a sad sigh. "I do love you, Peter. Whatever else you think about me, I hope you can at least believe that."

And with that, Ego walked away. The loud environment of the party suddenly became too much to handle. Quill needed to find someplace quiet. Someplace he could sort this out. Damn it. He really wished Thor was here right now. He was probably the one person who could calm Quill down right now. Quill took out his phone and debated calling him. This situation kind of qualified as an emergency of sorts, but... Quill didn't want to screw up Thor's meeting. It was supposed to be really important, right?

Quill put away his phone picked a random hallway. Everything was going to be fine. At least, that's what he tried to tell himself as he walked away from the party. He just had to find a quiet spot and take a minute to breathe.

"I see you decided to show your face after all," Stephen's voice came from somewhere behind Quill. Quill turned to face him. Apparently, he was making quite the expression as Stephen's good natured greeting instantly turned into concern. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Quill muttered.

"It's clearly not nothing," Stephen frowned.

"I just... I need a minute. That's all."

Stephen considered what Quill had said for a moment and then took him by the hand. "Come with me." Quill followed obediently as Stephen took him further away from the party. They ended up in a long room that served as a gallery. It was empty, quiet, and judging by the cushioned benches lying about, comfortable. It was exactly the sort of place he needed. Quill took a seat and Stephen joined him. He didn't say anything though. He just let Quill bask in the silence until he was ready to talk himself.

"Thank you," Quill said finally, "this was exactly what I needed."

"I'm just glad it helped," Stephen replied.

"How'd you know about this place anyway?"

"Think you're the only one that occasionally needs to find a quiet place to unwind?" Stephen asked, "I only lasted an hour before I needed to get away."

"So you found me because you were on your way back to the party from this room?"

"That is correct. It has become a bit of a safe haven of mine whenever the Grandmaster decides to throw parties like this one."

"Sorry you had to share it with me."

"It's fine. I can handle one person easily enough," Stephen shrugged, "it's huge crowds I can only tolerate so much of. I didn't expect you to have that problem though."

"It's not the crowds that are the problem," Quill sighed. Stephen looked like he wanted to ask, but he was considerate enough not to. Still, Stephen was smart and Quill could really use a second opinion right now. "Hey, can I run something by you?"

"Of course."

"Say that there's this person. He's a total asshole, someone you should want nothing to do with."

"We're not talking about your boyfriend, are we?"

"No! No way! Thor is... well, he's basically the greatest thing to ever happen to me, alright? And if he was here right now, I wouldn't be talking to you."

"Great. Why don't you call him then?"

"Because he's busy. And before you give me that look, it's not his fault! He's got a company to run so I can't always be the priority." As Quill said the words aloud, he realized how bad they actually sounded. It was like he was in denial or something. It was true though. Thor was great and Quill hated that he was making him sound like a neglectful boyfriend. "It's my dad that's the problem, okay? I ran into him here at the party."

"Hold on. You ran into him here?"

"Yes. He's famous, alright? Doesn't mean he isn't a dick."

"You're right, of course. I'm just surprised."

"Yeah, well, I was too. He wasn't exactly around when I was a kid. My mom raised me on her own and when she died I was sent off to an orphanage. It sucked, but not as much as living with him probably would have."

"Okay. So, he's a terrible father. You're not actually required to interact with him. What's the dilemma here, Quill?"

Quill frowned, turning his gaze to the floor.

Stephen sighed. "You don't actually want to cut him out of your life, do you?"

"I don't know," Quill said, burying his face in his hands. "I know what he is. It doesn't any sense to give him another chance, but... he asked for one. And what if I'm wrong? What if he actually could change?"

"You shouldn't invite him back into your life," Stephen said bluntly.

Quill looked at Stephen, a confused look on his face. Just like that?

"Your life was clearly better without him and it doesn't sound like you owe him anything."

"I know, but it's not that simple."

"Yes, it is," Stephen replied, "but, be my guest. Make all the excuses for him you'd like. It's your own life that you're ruining, not mine."

"Ugh. I hate you for being right," Quill groaned. Still, Stephen had helped him make up his mind. That nagging urge to give Ego another chance didn't seem nearly as prominent as before. "I do kind of like that you don't sugar coat things though."

"That's funny. That's the trait that usually gets me in trouble with other people."

"I mean, it is annoying. But it's nice knowing that whatever you say is actually genuine. There aren't a lot of people who are like that." That said, Quill got up from his seat and added, "anyway, I'd better get back to the party. I left my little brother on his own."

"Mind if I join you?" Stephen asked, "I admit I'm kind of curious."

"I don't see why not. I think he'd be happy to meet you," Quill answered with a smile.

\---------------------

"Seriously, Thor?" Loki shouted. "I've stressed how important our relationship with Ronan's company is a billion times!"

"I know," Thor said, attempting to get Loki to calm down. He was fully aware of how much he'd fucked up. Loki yelling at him wasn't what going to help.

"If he decides to act against you--"

"I know," Thor growled, raising his voice angrily this time. "But what was I supposed to do? Roll over and take it?"

"Yes!"

"He blew me off, Loki. And he didn't even pretend to be sorry about it. He sent an employee to tell me that he'd decided not to meet with me after all. It wasn't because some kind of emergency came up or there was something he felt he needed to prioritize-- it was because he didn't feel like it. He left me waiting there for two hours before he had someone inform me." None of that was what had really made Thor angry though. It was the fact that that was time he could have spent at the Grandmaster's party with Quill. That was what had sent him over the edge. That's what made him tell Ronan's employee to tell Ronan to go fuck himself.

"He was a dick. I get it. But you need to fix this."

"I won't apologize."

"If Ronan decides to act against us, it will ruin us! What do you not understand about that?"

"I understand, but... I can't, Loki. I just can't. There has to be another way."

Loki sighed. "I'll talk to Hela and see what we can come up with. Just... try not to make the situation worse in the meantime."

Thor nodded. He knew he was putting a lot on the two of them, but he trusted them. If anyone could dig him out of this hole he created, it'd be them. He just hoped they could find a way to do it without setting the company back too far. Thor didn't want to think that all the work he'd done could be undone by one justified outburst.

\---------------------

It was pretty late by the time they left the party, but Peter had said he wanted to swing by and see if he could talk to Loki. And since he was already bothering the neighbors, Quill figured he'd join in and see if Thor was still up. Sure enough, when they knocked on the door, Loki and Thor answered together.

"Sorry," Quill started, "I know it's late, but--"

As Quill spoke, Peter spontaneously pulled Loki in close and kissed him, surprising everyone. It only took a few seconds for Loki to get on board and kiss him back. Well, this was awkward. Quill cleared his throat and Thor chuckled, moving aside so Quill could come in. They went to Thor's room and shut the door, giving the other two some privacy.

"So," Quill started awkwardly, "how was your dinner meeting?"

Thor's expression immediately darkened.

"That bad, huh?"

"Yes," Thor groaned, "he blew me off just because he felt like it so I told his employee to tell him to go fuck himself. I... don't know how bad it is yet, but Loki was on my case about it earlier."

"What a dick," Quill said, unable to hide the hint of anger in his tone.

Thor smiled.

"What?"

"That's the response I was hoping for when I talked to Loki," Thor explained, "of course, he can't stop thinking about things practically for even a second."

"Yeah, well, he didn't miss out on a date with his awesome boyfriend because some egomaniac was making some kind of nonsensical power play," Quill pointed out, "besides, if you roll over for him now, he'll just expect you to it again later. I'm not Loki so I don't have all the statistics, but I don't think bending over backwards for him would have been the right call."

"I probably could have been a bit more diplomatic things though."

"Nope. Like you said, he can go fuck himself."

"You are incredibly attractive right now," Thor said with a chuckle.

"I'm always incredibly attractive," Quill replied playfully.

"I know. That's why you're mine," Thor grinned mischievously. Quill knew that look. Sure enough, Thor leaned in for a kiss. Quill happily accepted.

He'd sort of meant to bring up the fact that he'd seen Ego again. It was something Thor would probably want to know. Still, Thor already had enough on his plate. And bringing up something like that right now would be an instant mood killer anyway. For now, Quill tossed the though aside and just enjoyed the moment.


	9. Chapter 9

Quill was about to doze off when a bottle of water was tossed in his direction. He snapped to attention and caught it, looking up to see that Stephen was the one that had thrown it. "You haven't been drinking enough today," Stephen pointed out.

He was right about that much. It's just that Quill was also tired. Every time he got a break in between scenes, that need seemed to prevail over finding something to drink. It was nice that Stephen cared enough to grab him something, but it was also a little annoying that he'd noticed. Quill took the cap of the bottle and downed about half of it one go. "Thanks," Quill managed.

"You haven't been sleeping enough either, right? You need to take better care of yourself. That's half the job in this line of work."

"I know," Quill grumbled. He wasn't really in the mood for a lecture. Still, he knew Stephen meant well so he softened his tone and explained his position. "I just... I wanted to spend some extra time with my boyfriend. You know, since I won't be able to see him while I'm out of town."

"I get it," Stephen sighed, displaying more empathy than Quill had expected. "Balancing this job and relationships can be impossible."

"How do you do it?" Quill asked curiously.

"I don't," Stephen said, "I chose the job. With one exception, the only friends I have are casual contacts at best."

"That sounds kind of lonely," Quill frowned. Is that what it'd come down to? His job or the people in his life? Quill had too many people he cared about to choose acting over them, but that didn't mean he just wanted to give up on it. This job was really, really fun and it made him feel like he was actually doing something worthwhile with his life. He'd regret it if he had to leave it behind. Quill tossed the thought aside. Just because Stephen had drawn a line between the two, that didn't mean he had to. He'd make it work. Somehow.

"It's not as bad as you'd think," Stephen said with a shrug. "Anyway, make sure you drink the rest of that water. We've got one more scene to get through before you can call it a day." Quill nodded and did as instructed. It wasn't long before the Grandmaster called them both back to the set.

Quill's social life may have been a bit of a mess lately with him trying to fit everyone in, but his acting career was going pretty smoothly. They'd finished filming most of the first season and only had a few more episodes to go. Things were getting exciting too. Drax's character had been captured by a high ranking vampire the main duo had angered early on and Natasha's character was caught between her feelings for him and the tenuous peace between the vampire nobility. The relationship between the two of them had come as a bit of a surprise to Quill as he expected Natasha to be Stephen's love interest. He had to admit that he did like this better though. He hoped he'd see a happy resolution for the two characters when he was given the script for the next episode. Quill was also curious to see where his character's arc was going. Of course, all of that would have to wait until they got back from doing their first interview.

Quill wasn't as nervous about it as he probably should have been. Sure, it'd be his first one, but Quill had never really struggled when it came to being outgoing. Besides, the Grandmaster had set it up so Stephen would be there too. If he messed up, Stephen could probably smooth things over. Quill assumed that was the Grandmaster's reasoning for pairing them up. Of course, it could just have easily been because Quill wouldn't have garnered enough interest on his own. He was a newcomer, after all. Until people got to see an actual episode, the only thing people had to go on was his connection to a highly anticipated show.

"You two are heading out tomorrow morning, right?" Natasha asked, approaching Quill and Stephen once they'd wrapped up their final scene.

"That's right," Quill answered, going over the schedule in his head once more. They'd catch a plane together in the morning and arrive at their destination in the afternoon. From there, they'd have a few hours to themselves before they had to go to the studio and do the interview. After that, they'd spend the night at a hotel and do one more interview in the morning at a different studio before heading home. It wasn't exactly difficult to remember, but it was nice to know that Loki planned on texting him throughout his trip to make sure he didn't forget anything.

"Then I guess I'd better say it a bit early," Natasha started, turning her attention towards Stephen in particular, "happy birthday, Stephen."

"Eh? Tomorrow's your birthday?" Quill asked. "How come you didn't say anything?"

"Because it doesn't really matter?" Stephen suggested, "besides, if you really wanted to know a quick internet search would have given you that information." He then turned to Natasha and said a quick, "thank you. I appreciate it."

"Don't celebrate too hard, alright?" she said with a wink, "you don't want to embarrass yourself too much during your interview."

"I was counting on Quill to keep me in line," Stephen retorted.

Natasha chuckled as she left the studio, waving goodbye as she left.

"It sucks that you have to work on your birthday," Quill said once she was gone.

"It's fine. I don't really celebrate it anyway."

"Why not?"

"Because parties are annoying and the only person I'd want to spend my birthday with doesn't have a lot of free time. It'd be asking a lot of her to free up her schedule for me."

"She's the exception you were talking about earlier, right? She's just a friend though? Not a girlfriend?"

"She was my girlfriend at one point, but we broke up," Stephen admitted, "her name is Christine Palmer. She's a nurse I got to know while doing research for a part in a medical drama."

"Oh! I know the one you're talking about," Quill said, perking up a bit, "my dad, Yondu, was really into it."

"Your dad, huh?" Stephen frowned.

"Ah, not the one your thinking of! My adoptive dad. The one I like. Most of the time." Quill cleared his throat and guided the conversation back to Christine. "So, why'd you two break up? Was it because you weren't able to spend enough time together?" Quill was guessing from what Stephen had said earlier, but he couldn't help but think of his own situation with Thor.

"Well, no," Stephen said, "I suppose that would have probably done in our relationship in eventually, but that wasn't what did it." Stephen hesitated a moment before deciding it was okay to elaborate. "My relationship with her is what made realize that I wasn't sexually attracted to women. Before that, I'd assumed I'd just been going out with the wrong kind of women, but when it came to Christine... She was perfect so I finally had to conclude that the problem was me."

"So you're gay then? Or asexual? I-if that's okay to ask, of course. You can just ignore me if I'm--"

"Gay," Stephen said simply, "but also picky. It's not a great combination."

"I guess that's why I went with being bisexual," Quill joked, glad that Stephen hadn't taken offense, "unlimited options there."

"So you've had girlfriends in the past then?" Stephen asked. Quill was surprised he wanted to know.

"Oh yeah. Quite a few of them. I didn't know I could even be attracted to men until Thor came along."

"What about Drax?"

Quill immediately blushed a bright red. "T-that's totally different!"

"I know. I'm just teasing you," Stephen chuckled, "he does seem to be your type though."

"Oh? And just what exactly is my type?"

"Judging by your Norse god of a boyfriend, muscular jocks."

"It's not about the muscles!" They were pretty nice though.

"What's it about then?" Stephen asked with a smug smile.

"I-I don't know," Quill faltered, "I guess in Thor's case... Well, he's handsome for one thing. There's no denying that. But he's also really sweet. Brave. A little clingy... but I like that too. I never have to doubt that he loves me." Quill smiled just thinking about Thor. "He's kind of too good for me, really."

Stephen flicked Quill on the forehead in response.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"He's not too good for you," Stephen said firmly. He then crossed his arms and sighed. "I guess I didn't realize exactly how stupidly in love you were with him. Are you sure you're going to be okay doing romance scenes?"

"It should be fine. I already talked to Thor about it. He doesn't like it, but he gets it. Besides, it's not like I'll have to do anything like that anytime soon."

Stephen stared at Quill, a suspiciously blank expression on his face.

"H-hold on! Do you know something I don't?"

Stephen turned and started walking away.

"Come on, Stephen! You can't leave me hanging like that!"

"Go home and get some rest. We've got a lot of work to do over the next two days."

\---------------------

Quill must have stayed up late again, because it only took him about ten minutes to fall asleep listening to his music on the plane. It wasn't particularly loud, but Stephen still caught a lyric here and there. He entertained himself for a bit by listing the song, artist, and the date it was released in his head. He'd always had a talent for trivia like that. Of course, it helped that Quill had good taste.

Once the flight was over, Stephen turned to Quill to wake him up. However, after seeing the goofy expression on Quill's sleeping face, he changed plans and snapped a photo first. Stephen nudged Quill awake and then showed it to him. "Think Natasha will appreciate that one?" Stephen asked.

"Oh, geez. Do I really look that dumb when I sleep?" Quill groaned.

"As this is the only example of you sleeping that I have, I must conclude that, yes, you do look that dumb every time you fall asleep."

"Wow. So that's how it is, huh?" Quill smiled, "just you wait. I'll send Natasha an even better one of you doing something dumb."

"I'd like to see you try."

"Oh, it's on now."

Quill made good on his challenge and took several photos throughout the day. Anytime Stephen felt like Quill was getting the upper hand, he'd retaliate by taking some more photos of Quill. The war got so heated that Natasha eventually sent them a warning through text messages saying that if she got any more quality content she wouldn't be able to resist posting all of the pictures to her social media accounts. From there, the two promptly agreed to a truce and decided to go get dinner.

"Know any good places to eat around here?" Quill asked.

"A few," Stephen admitted. He'd done enough interviews in the area to know a couple of good ones. "Do you know what kind of food you want to eat?"

"I'm good with anything. We can go wherever you want."

Stephen thought about it for a moment before an idea struck him. Since he had Quill along... He brought up the restaurant's menu on his phone and handed it to Quill. "How about this one? They have live music."

"Seriously? That's all I need to know. Let's go."

\---------------------

"Good food and good music. Could this place be any cooler?" Quill announced with a grin.

"I thought you might like it," Stephen said with a satisfied smile of his own.

"I do, buuut I hope you didn't pick it just because of me. Today was supposed to be more about you, you know?"

"Hm? Why?"

"Hello! Because it's your birthday?" Quill pointed out.

"Oh. You're still on about that?"

"Of course I'm still on about it. Your birthday is already going to suck because you have to work. The very least you could've done for it is go out to eat where you wanted."

"This place is fine. I didn't really have a preference."

"If you say so," Quill sighed, "I'm definitely buying you desert though so figure out what you want."

"I suppose that if that will get you off my back about not celebrating properly it'll be a small price to pay."

"Well..."

"What is it now?"

"There is just one more thing. I got you a present."

Stephen blinked in surprise. Presents weren't exactly a weird thing for him to get. His fans always made sure he had more than he knew what to do with. But he hadn't expected one from Quill-- especially since he hadn't heard Stephen's birthday was today until yesterday. That meant that once they'd wrapped up on set, he had to have gone out shopping despite how tired he already was. Stephen had to admit he was curious.

Quill pulled a small box from his jacket and slid it across the table towards Stephen. "It's... Well, it's not as nice as the ones you already have, but I thought it'd look good on you. Of course, if you don't like it, you can just toss it or something. Just do me a favor and don't let me know that. It might not seem like it, but I did try and--"

"Quill," Stephen said, cutting him off. Quill shut up just long enough to let Stephen actually open the present. Inside was a watch. It probably didn't cost half as much of any of the ones he'd collected himself, but it couldn't have been cheap either. It had a nice design to it too. He could definitely see himself wearing it on a fairly regular basis. In fact... Stephen took off the watch he was currently wearing and put on the one Quill gave him.

"You don't have to do that."

"I want to," Stephen said, "how'd you know I liked watches anyway?"

"Seriously? You wear a different one every day."

"You noticed that?"

"Well, when you're afraid Stephen Strange is going to call you out everyday for being a second late your eyes do tend to wander that direction."

"I'm that scary, huh?"

"Oh yes," Quill smiled.

"Thank you, Quill. It's perfect."

Quill beamed at him in response and Stephen couldn't deny it anymore. Quill was the last person he thought he'd fall for, but there it was. Stephen liked him. Really liked him. And, with that realization, Stephen's mood soured. He may have liked Quill, but Quill was devoted to his boyfriend and he wasn't going to be the asshole that tried to get in their way.

Happy birthday, huh? So much for that.


	10. Chapter 10

Yondu and May took up two-thirds of the couch while Loki took the armchair and Peter sat criss cross on the ground next to him. It was almost time for Quill's interview and Thor had been put on popcorn duty. Thus, he watched from behind the kitchen counter as he waited for the microwave to finish up. "Hey, Thor, be a good future son-in-law and grab me a beer while you're over there, would you?" Yondu asked, turning Thor's way.

"Don't pressure him," May hissed, slapping Yondu on the chest.

"What? It's not like I'm putting ideas the boy's head. He's already asked me for my blessing. He's got the ring and everything."

"What?" both Peter and Loki exclaimed in unison, sitting up a little straighter.

Noting their surprise, realization dawned on Yondu. He frowned and asked, "you haven't actually told anyone else, have you?"

"No," Thor said with a sigh as the microwave beeped to signal the popcorn was done.

"My bad."

"It's fine. I mean, it's not exactly a secret that I love Quill."

"How long have you had the ring?" Loki cut in, demanding answers.

"Well," Thor said, digging through the fridge to grab Yondu his requested beer, "I bought the ring about... six months ago? I asked Yondu for his blessing a little after that."

"Then why the hell haven't you proposed already?" Loki growled, grinding his teeth in frustration.

"The timing hasn't been right," Thor sighed, "so many things have been going on lately and I don't want to ruin the proposal by forcing it into the few hours our schedules aren't conflicting."

"Fine. I guess that does make a bit of sense," Loki grumbled, "but it's not like he's going to say no, you know? I think you should just seal the deal already."

"Your criticisms have been noted."

"This is bad," Peter muttered. The others turned their attention towards him as he continued, "I can't keep a secret like this! I'm notoriously bad at keeping secrets!"

"He really is," May frowned. "You may want to ask Quill sooner than later if you want it to be a surprise."

"I intend to. Really," Thor said with a soft smile, "I'm ready to go the second I feel the time is right."

May opened her mouth to say something else, but stopped short when the TV show hostess, Karen Page, announced Stephen and Quill. Thor grabbed the bowl of popcorn and gave Yondu his beer before joining Quill's parents on the couch. He made it just in time to see Quill take his seat.

"So," the Karen started, "why don't we start off by addressing the elephant in the room."

"I take it that'd be me?" Quill asked, sitting up a little straighter in his seat.

"I hadn't realized I'd been working with an elephant this whole time," Stephen teased.

"That's because my acting is so good that I managed to convince you I'm a human," Quill retorted without missing a beat.

That exchange got a good laugh out of the audience. Karen smiled and gave the crowd a moment before continuing, "Are you two always like this? Because I honestly don't remember Stephen being this fun."

"Ouch, Karen," Stephen said, "I thought we were friends."

"We are, but you do have a tendency to be very professional in your interviews."

"Well, I blame Quill. He's a bad influence."

"I am," Quill agreed.

"Good to know," Karen chuckled, "anyway, Quill, my first question is for you. As far as I can tell, you're completely new to the television industry. Is that right?"

"Yup. The only other acting experiences I've had were parts in a couple of school plays. And, if that wasn't enough to make aspiring actors rightfully hate me, the audition I did for the show Stephen and I are working on right now was my first audition ever."

"Are you serious?"

"Yup."

"I didn't know that," Stephen said, interest piqued.

"That must have been an impressive audition," Karen said in awe.

"I don't know about that," Quill replied sheepishly, "but I guess it was what the Grandmaster was looking for. I thought I was dreaming when he told me. Heck, I thought I was dreaming when I got the call back."

"I'll bet. Learning you'd be working with the Grandmaster is something even experienced actors would get excited about."

"It wasn't just him though. He introduced me to Stephen, Natasha, and Drax at the same time."

"So you saw his audition then, Stephen? What'd you think?"

"I think that's a loaded question," Stephen said, "but I can actually answer it honestly. Quill is talented. I had no issues with his audition. I was initially a little worried about his inexperience, but he has since proven to me that the Grandmaster made the right call. I really couldn't have asked for a better scene partner."

Quill sunk into his chair a little at that, lowering his gaze shyly. Thor noticed a slight blush on his cheeks. That reaction brought out something wicked in Thor. While the logical half of his brain told him that Quill was just a little overwhelmed by the compliment, the illogical side jumped to the conclusion that Stephen was a threat to their relationship. He tried to bury the latter thought, but his fears kept creeping to the front of his mind.

Once the interview was over, he waited (impatiently) for an hour to make sure Quill had time to wrap up his work and then gave him a call. He had to hear his voice, to hear Quill tell him that he loved him. It was the only way to banish his doubts. "Hey, Thor," Quill answered the phone. It was clear from his tone that he was in a good mood.

"Hey," Thor started, "we watched your interview earlier. You did great. I wouldn't have known it was your first one."

"Thanks. I thought I'd be a bit more nervous, but having Stephen there helped." Thor's stomach twisted at the mention of Stephen's name. Luckily, Quill dropped that line of discussion and said, "I know it hasn't even been a full day since I saw you, but I already miss you."

And, just like that, the petty jealousy Thor had been experiencing vanished in an instant. "In fairness, I don't think that me driving you to the airport actually counts as us spending quality time together."

"I 100% agree with that statement. It also doesn't help that staying in a hotel is making me nostalgic."

Because they'd had sex for the first time in a hotel room. It wasn't exactly the most romantic place to do it, but neither of them had actually cared at the time. Thor smiled. "I take it you'll be dreaming of me tonight then?"

"Probably. How about you? Think you'll spare a thought for me?"

"I always dream about you," Thor replied. Quill went quiet. Thor didn't have to see his face to know he was blushing. "You're really cute right now."

"Agh! You can't even see my face! How do you even-- no, that's not the important question! How do you say that kind of thing so smoothly all the time? I still don't get it!"

"It's easy because I'm just stating a fact."

"I hate you."

"I love you."

"Yeah, yeah. I love you too. So... how are things going with the company? Ronan make his move yet?"

"Not yet," Thor said, "with any luck, his employee didn't pass on my message and nothing changes."

"How likely do you think that is?"

"I don't know. But I'm not going to worry about it right now. If it happens, we'll deal with it."

"Right."

"I guess I'd better let you go. You need to rest up so you're ready for tomorrow's interview."

"Yeah," Quill sighed, "I guess. I'll see you tomorrow night."

"See you then," Thor replied. They exchanged a few more goodbyes, neither of them wanting to be the one to hang up. Quill eventually gave in. He made up for it, however, by sending Thor a text a few minutes later. There was a picture of Quill in the bathroom without his shirt followed by the words, now who's blushing?

Thor texted him back, telling Quill to send him dirtier pictures and he'd think about it.

Quill's response: give me a minute.

Thor kept his eyes on the screen. He was definitely eager to see what kind of picture Quill would send back. Probably nothing too risque with Stephen in the other room, but maybe... The picture came through and Thor wasn't sure if it was hilarious or disappointing. What he'd gotten was a picture of actual dirt. Quill had apparently needed the minute to put his shirt back on and go outside.

Thor texted back: tease.

\---------------------

"I can't believe Thor had a ring this whole time," Peter commented. After the interview, him and Loki had retreated to Peter's room to hang out for a bit. Peter occupied a chair in front of his computer and turned it towards his bed where Loki had chosen to sit.

"What I can't believe is that I had no idea," Loki grumbled, arms crossed. Peter withheld a chuckle. Loki really didn't like not being in the loop. "He should have told me! He probably picked out a ring that was hideous!"

"You know, don't take this the wrong way, but I think you picking out the ring would kind of defeat the purpose. Thor knows Quill best, right? I think we can trust him to pick out something nice."  
Loki sighed in a defeated manner. "Yeah. I guess you have a point. I'm not the one asking Quill to marry me."

"I should hope not."

"Is that a bit of jealousy that I detect?" Loki asked with a grin.

"Yes," Peter grumbled honestly.

Loki stood up and went over to Peter. Leaning over, he pressed his lips to Peter's. "You have nothing to worry about," Loki said, pulling away with a smile.

"Hey, um," Peter started, "I know I messed up last time we tried to... you know, but I do want to try again."

"I... want to too," Loki said with a frown, "I just..."

Peter took his hands in his. "I know. And I don't want to push you if you aren't ready. If you're afraid I'll accidentally hurt you again, we can switch positions or something, but I do think that I have a better idea of what I'm doing this time around." Peter had been exchanging texts with Quentin ever since they'd met at the party. He knew that he probably shouldn't be talking to him at all given his history with Loki, but there was something about the guy that made Peter feel like he could rely on him. Kinda like an older brother, but also not. "Anyway, we don't have to do anything right now. I just wanted you to start thinking about it."

"Alright, I will," Loki said with a smile, "in the meantime though... there are a lot of other fun things we can do together."

"I'm listening," Peter said, returning the smile.

\---------------------

The next day flew by. Quill's second interview had gone just as well as the first and soon enough he was on the plane home with Stephen. Quill ended up telling Stephen about the Dungeons and Dragons campaign he'd started with Darcy and the others. Surprisingly, Stephen seemed to take a genuine interest in it. It made Quill wonder if Bucky would be willing to add another player to the game. After all, Quill and Stephen had similar schedules and Quill knew Stephen didn't have a social life. Maybe he could drag Stephen to one of their sessions. He decided he'd ask the next time he texted Darcy.

Once they landed, Stephen stuck with Quill until they reached the area where people awaited their loved ones. Quill spotted Thor instantly. "Well, go on," Stephen said, "what are you waiting for?"

"It seems kind of rude to just ditch you," Quill said.

"I'll live."

"You don't need a ride or anything? I'm sure Thor would be willing to drive you home."

"I'll be fine on my own, Quill."

"Alright. If you say so. See you tomorrow then."

"See you tomorrow."

With his goodbyes out of the way, Quill rushed over to Thor and jumped into his arms. Thor smiled and pulled him into a kiss. Quill was still a little embarrassed by displays of public affection, but he let it slide this time. It felt too good to stop. At least, until he overheard a hushed conversation nearby. "Hey, is that the guy from that TV interview yesterday? The one that's going to be in the Grandmaster's upcoming show."

"It can't be," another voice answered, "no way he'd be kissing his boyfriend like that in public-- not unless he wanted the picture posted on the front of every tabloid."

Quill pulled away immediately. Thor frowned, looking a bit surprised. Before he could ask about it, Quill took his hand and dragged him away. That person had a point. It might be alright now since he was still relatively unknown, but once that first episode aired... He'd have to be careful. 

"Quill, what's wrong?" Thor asked.

"Nothing," Quill lied. Nothing he shouldn't have been prepared for in the first place. Damn it. How could he not have thought of any of this before he got the job? "I just... want to get home. I'm kind of tired."

"Alright," Thor said with a sigh.

The ride home was quiet. Quill figured he should say something to break that silence, but he was too distracted by the implications of what the people at the airport had said. If their relationship became public knowledge, it'd probably cause trouble for Thor. Quill didn't couldn't exactly imagine all his business partner's being completely cool with it and, even if they were, any trouble Quill got into would reflect badly on him. This meant that they could never just go on a regular date again, didn't it?

When they pulled into Quill's driveway, someone was waiting at the front door to Thor's house-- a beautiful woman with long dark hair. Thor opened his door and called out to her. "Sif, hey." Quill's mood plummeted even further. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, the guys wanted to go out for drinks tonight so I thought I'd swing by and see if you wanted to come," Sif said, blushing slightly and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she took a few steps toward the car. "Quill is welcome too, of course." She leaned over to get a better look in the car and waved to Quill. "Hello, by the way. I'm Sif."

"Yeah, I figured as much," Quill said, his response a bit colder than he'd intended it to be.

"It's nice to finally meet you."

"Same." Quill didn't feel that way at all. Of course, Sif probably didn't really either.

"So, what do you guys think? You interested?"

"It could be fun," Thor said, turning to Quill with a smile on his face. Quill could tell he wanted to go. He wasn't going to ruin Thor's fun just because he was jealous. Besides, as long as he tagged along, he could make sure nothing happened between these two.

Except... He couldn't actually go, could he? Not after the realization he'd had at the airport. Even if he wore some kind of disguise, they'd still be drinking. He might end up doing something dumb and revealing himself. "You go," Quill said, gaze focused on his shoes.

"I don't want to go if you don't."

That was sweet, but Quill knew it wasn't true. "I have a headache," Quill said, "I think I just want to call it an early night anyway. So, go have fun with your friends, okay?"

"You're sure?"

"Yeah."

Thor leaned in and kissed Quill on the forehead. "Feel better, okay?"

"Yeah," Quill said. He got out of the car and headed for his house. He looked back and noted the smile on Thor's face as he talked to Sif. It wasn't exactly fair, but Quill was pretty sure he hated her.

When he got into the house, he closed the door behind him and headed for the couch. Yondu was already there watching some sitcom on TV. "You look terrible," he commented as Quill sat down next to him. "Do I need to kick Thor's ass for something?"

"No," Quill sighed, "he's great, as always."

"That guy you did the interview with then?"

"Stephen? No. He's great too."

"Then what's the problem?"

That harlot in the driveway next door. And the fact that he'd overlooked yet another thing that should have been obvious when it came to being an actor that was part of a big project. "I don't really want to talk about it," Quill said.

"Just going to wallow in self pity for a bit, eh?"

"Yup."

"Want to watch Star Wars or one of your other sci fi films?"

Yondu really was the best dad Quill could have asked for. "Yeah."


	11. Chapter 11

On the bright side, being unable to spend time with Thor had allowed Quill to get a proper night's sleep for once. Nodding off between scenes wasn't going to be a problem today. Quill took a seat with the rest of the cast members around a conference table and started reading the script he'd just been given. He was eager to see where the plot was going. After all, the last episode had left Drax in a bad situation. It was time for an epic rescue! Except... there was no epic rescue. 

Natasha's character couldn't intervene directly so she had Quill's character pass some information on to Stephen's character. However, Quill's character chose to keep it from Stephen's character because he'd basically be sending him on a suicide mission. And, as it turned out, that decision had consequences. Stephen's character managed to get a lead on his own, but he was too late. "You can not be serious!" Quill exclaimed out loud.

"I take it you got to the part," the Grandmaster commented.

"Yes! You can't just kill off Drax's character like that!"

"Oh, that part. Not the one I was thinking of, but I can see why you'd find that one upsetting."

Quill opened his mouth to say something, but ended up getting caught between two thoughts. One was his continued outrage that his acting hero was being taken out of the series and the other was the fact that that wasn't the scene the Grandmaster had expected to trip him up.

"If it makes you feel any better, I've known it was coming since the beginning," Drax said, "the Grandmaster told me I'd only be on the show for one season up front."

"B-but it's not even during the season finale," Quill whined. Drax should have at least had one more episode!

"That's the point," the Grandmaster said, "people always expect major deaths to happen in finales and premieres. Putting it in the episode before the finale is a bit more unexpected."

"So you're killing Drax's character off for shock value?"

"Not primarily. His death and the situation surrounding it effects all of your characters in very interesting ways. For instance, Natasha's character will have to move on with her life knowing that, because she didn't intervene in a more effective way, she's lost the man she loved. Your character has to live with the fact that he lied to Stephen's character and that the information you had could have potentially saved Drax's character. And Stephen's character, who has taken a more neutral stance in the series thus far, is going to take a more active role in bringing down the people he holds responsible. It should be very entertaining to see how it all plays out-- especially when Stephen's character finds out what you two did, or rather, didn't do." The Grandmaster eyed Natasha and Quill as if they'd been the ones who wrote the script and not him.

"Okay... But maybe Drax comes back at some point?" Quill asked hopefully.

Stephen rolled his eyes. "Get over your it. Your man crush is dead."

"Stephen is quite right I'm afraid. I hate death fake outs in fiction," the Grandmaster said with a nod, "they really take away from the impact of the story."

"They can be done well though," Quill tried to bargain.

"Quill, stop arguing and finish reading the script already, will you?" Stephen asked with a bit of a huff in his tone. "That way you can complain about everything all at once."

Quill sulked a bit, but ultimately obeyed. He supposed he was kind of curious to see what part he was actually supposed to be upset about. Wait... his character didn't die too, right? Maybe Natasha's character decided Caleb was to blame for Drax's death and enacts bloody vengence! That wasn't a happy thought. Quill braced himself as he flipped through the next few pages. Then he got to the part. Well, he wasn't dead. "So, um," Quill turned a bright red, "this isn't like a prank script or anything is it?"

"It isn't," Stephen said firmly.

"Then you and me..."

"Yes."

"O-okay then," Quill said, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. That probably wasn't going to happen though considering two words kept blaring in his head like a fire alarm: sex scene.

The Grandmaster clapped him on the shoulder. "It's good to see you're more worried about Drax than having to get intimate with Stephen. I thought for sure it'd be the other way around."

"Are you up for it?" Stephen asked, cutting in. "The Grandmaster does have an alternate script without the scene in it."

"Hey," the Grandmaster grumbled.

"I mean, it's pretty clear that it adds an extra layer of complication," Quill said, thinking it over as he spoke, "there's a lot you can do with that relationship plotwise. And... well, it'd be pretty amazing to have a big show where the main character is gay or bi or whatever." That last point sold Quill the most. Plus, he trusted Stephen. If he was going to get used to doing onscreen romance, it may as well be with him. Quill actually managed to muster up some confidence as he added, "so yeah, I guess I'm in."

"Yes! That's the spirit!"

"Can I ask why there are two versions of the script though? Did you expect me to back out?"

"Oh, it's nothing like that," the Grandmaster said dismissively, "I was bringing in an unknown actor. This is the version I wanted to use from the start, but I wasn't going to force it if I didn't think there was any chemistry between Stephen and whoever I ended up hiring. Audiences can pick up on that sort of thing, you know? But luckily, you two get along well and Stephen gave me his seal of approval so I was able to use the one I wanted." Quill looked over in Stephen's direction. Stephen cleared his throat and explicitly avoided eye contact. The Grandmaster then clapped his hands together and tried to move the conversation along, "so, I take it that settles everything?"

"Well, I'm still bummed about losing Drax," Quill mumbled.

Stephen sighed. "You're not taking this seriously, are you?"

"I am," Quill said, "I just... don't know how I'll feel about it until we actually do it, you know? Thank you for looking out for me though. I'm glad that you're the one I'll be working with."

\---------------------

This was bad. Really bad. Stephen took a deep breath and tried to focus, but his mind kept going back to the meeting earlier in the day. I'm glad that you're the one I'll be working with, huh? And he'd said it so innocently too. Quill really had no idea what sort of things were going on in Stephen's head. He'd never had a problem keeping his personal feelings separate from his acting before, but this next scene was going to be a challenge.

Stephen tried to distract himself by running through the plot of the scene in his head. His character had failed to save Drax and had decided to deal, or rather, not deal with it by purchasing a bunch of alcohol and drinking himself into a stupor. Caleb, Quill's character, comes by to check on him in the middle of that process. When he tries to get Ian to stop drinking, the two end up in a bit of a tussle that ends in an ill advised make out session. Caleb initially breaks it up, but Ian is able to convince him to keep going.

Okay. That had helped. Stephen felt a bit calmer about the whole situation. That was, until the Grandmaster called him to the set and he ran into Quill again.

"So, before we do this, I just wanted to say that I can take it," Quill said, "so don't hold back on my behalf, alright?"

"Right," Stephen replied. "The same goes for you. Do whatever comes naturally to you. You won't offend me."

"Okay."

"You two ready?" the Grandmaster asked.

"Yes," Stephen lied. Quill followed his lead and nodded. That decided, they both went to their marks and waited for the Grandmaster to call action. The start of the scene went fine. Stephen sat on the couch in the run down house him and Drax's character had shared and pretended to drink from one of the many bottles lying around on the set. Once the Grandmaster had the footage he wanted, he sent Quill in.

"Ian, I..." Quill started hesitantly.

"I don't want to hear it," Stephen replied dryly. "All anyone's so called sympathy does is make me feel even shitier than before. As if I really need a reminder that he's dead, you know? Like I somehow managed to forget it along with the fact that it's all my fault."

"It's not your fault."

Stephen laughed and took another swig of "alcohol" from his bottle.

"It's not," Quill said in a firmer tone than before, "if you'd gotten there before it happened, the only thing that would have changed was that you would have been killed too."

"You don't know that."

Silence. The subtle guilt etched on Quill's face was impressive.

"I think that outcome would have been preferable anyway," Stephen said, lifting the bottle again.

"That's the alcohol talking."

"It's really not."

"So you have nothing left to live for? I should just leave you here to drink yourself to death?"

"I would appreciate that, yes."

"Well, fuck that," Quill said angrily, stepping over several empty bottles on the floor to reach Stephen. "Give me that bottle."

Stephen raised the bottle to his lips and started chugging the "alcohol" down in defiance. As the script dictated, Quill grabbed at it, starting the fight. The bottle fell to the ground in the process and Quill ended up pinned down on the couch under Stephen. They both glared at each other for a moment and breathed heavily to catch their breath. Then Stephen leaned in and kissed Quill. Quill fought it for a moment before giving in and letting out a small moan. That stirred something inside of Stephen that had nothing to do with acting. He reinforced his position on top of Quill and deepened the kiss. It lasted another moment before Quill fought back, prying himself away.

"H-hold on. This isn't right."

"You like me, don't you?"

"I do, but--"

"Then help me. Help me stop thinking about all the shitty things that have happened lately for one goddamn minute," Stephen said, breaking down half way through the second line. "Because I can't handle this right now. I--"

"Okay," Quill said quietly, gently placing his hands on Stephen's cheeks as he kissed his forehead. "You don't need to say any more. It's okay." Quill then kissed Stephen lightly on the lips.

From there, they started stripping down. Once Quill's shirt was removed, Stephen started kissing along Quill's now exposed neck. Quill arched into it while his hands moved up Stephen's back and through his hair. Stephen had to keep reminding himself he was doing a scene. That was especially important after he accidentally ended up leaving a mark on Quill's skin. He was both relieved and disappointed when the Grandmaster finally called cut.

"Well, gentleman, way to get your audience all hot and bothered," the Grandmaster said, fanning himself. "Wow. Just wow."

"That take was good then?" Stephen said, keeping his tone formal. He couldn't look at Quill right now.

"Good? Hah. As if. It was amazing."

"Then we're done for the day?"

"That's right."

Stephen nodded, got dressed, and walked off set, heading for the bathroom. Once he was there, he started the faucet on one of the sinks and started splashing his face with cold water.

"Hey, is everything alright?" That would be Quill. He must have followed Stephen after he left the set.

"Everything's fine," Stephen said.

"Really? Because I feel like I might have done something wrong."

"You always feel like you've done something wrong."

"Yeah... I guess you've got me there."

"You didn't, by the way," Stephen said, turning the faucet off. He should probably look at Quill for this conversation, but he still couldn't bring himself to do that. "I just needed to cool down after that scene." Stephen hoped that didn't sound like a confession.

"Ah. I see. It was... pretty intense." This time, Stephen did look at Quill. His cheeks were slightly red. "It's nice to know I wasn't the only one who got a little flustered. That's probably kind of normal for those kinds of scenes though, huh?"

Not for Stephen. Still, Quill wasn't wrong. "It can be."

"Then I won't feel weird about it and neither should you."

"Right," Stephen said with a sigh. He was feeling a little better about the whole situation now. "I do think I should apologize about the hickey I gave you though."

"Eh? You gave me a hickey?" Quill asked, rushing over to the mirror. Sure enough, he spotted it along his neck rather quickly. "Sheesh, Stephen. You don't have to get into character that much."

If only that was the real issue.

\---------------------

Despite what he'd told Stephen, Quill still felt weird about it. 

That wasn't necessarily a bad thing by itself. It was a sex scene, after all. His first one. He'd expected to have mixed emotions about it afterward. He just... didn't expect to like it. The way Stephen had touched him was so different from the way Thor did. Forceful and a little cold. Definitely still hot though. Quill let out a sigh as he flopped onto the bed in his room. That probably meant he was a bit of a masochist. He liked the way Thor touched him too, of course. The way they had sex was playful and fun. And Thor was always gentle, warm. The problem was that what he'd done with Stephen felt new. He couldn't stop thinking about it. And he couldn't stop thinking about Stephen.

That was the part that really made Quill feel shitty. When Quill had been with women in the past, he had had the occasional stray thought. That hadn't been the case with men though. Ever since they started dating, Thor was honestly the only guy that Quill felt sexually attracted to. Until today.

"It's not a big deal," Quill told himself, burying his face in his hands, "it's normal to be curious. You didn't just totally betray your amazing and, frankly, too good for you boyfriend." He wished he thought that was true. He couldn't help how he felt, but he could still feel guilty about it.

"Dinner's almost ready," May called through the door.

Right. Family dinner. Because he was totally in the right mindset for that right now. Quill groaned and forced himself to get up before making his way to the dining room. Since he was the first one there, May had him place plates around the table.

"Hey, Quill. How was work?" Peter asked, arriving at the table and taking a seat.

"Oh, you know. Same old, same old. How's school been treating you? Tony get Jessica to say yes yet?"

"School's good. And no. Not yet. On that note... how are things going between you and Thor? Anything interesting happen yet?"

Quill cocked an eyebrow in confusion. That was a weird way to word that, wasn't it?

"Peter, I need your help with something in the kitchen. Right now," May said, her tone urgent. Okay, something was definitely going on. Quill didn't have much time to question it however, as the doorbell rang a moment later.

Quill answered it. Predictably, it was Thor, Loki, and Mantis. When Thor saw Quill, he smiled brightly. Quill returned one that was a little forced. Thor didn't seem to notice though and everyone eventually took a chair around the dining table. As the last thing Quill wanted to do was talk about his day in specifics, he asked Thor about his night. "So... How'd things go with your friends the other day?"

"Great," Thor replied, "we all had a couple of drinks and then hit the karaoke machine. I really wish that you would have been able to come with us."

"Yeah. Me too. It would have been fun," Quill said, picking at his food, "once we finish filming, I should have some more time to hang out and do things like that." Quill had thought about that sort of thing a bit more since he rejected Sif's invitation last night. He'd decided that he couldn't let the fact that he might be recognized keep him from having a social life. It did mean he had to be careful though. A decent disguise was definitely in order. And he had to be on his best behavior since anything he did could potentially end up on the front of some gossip magazine. That meant no drinking or getting intimate with Thor. Basically, he couldn't have any fun.

"That's true, isn't it?" Thor asked with a grin, "I'll be looking forward to that."

Quill sighed. He was kind of divided about it. Yes, he wanted that extra time with Thor, but he really liked his job too. And if they weren't filming, he wouldn't get to see Natasha, the Grandmaster, and... Stephen. Fuck. Maybe it was good that they'd be taking a bit of a break soon. That might give Quill a chance to get his head on straight.

"Are you still feeling--" Thor stopped abruptly mid sentence. Quill turned towards him and noticed that Thor's eyes were focused on his neck. Quill bit his lip nervously in response. Yeah, that looked bad, didn't it?

"It's work related," Quill said quietly. He didn't think he was actually allowed to say more than that.

"Right," Thor said with a frown. He had accepted Quill's explanation, but he didn't seem happy about it. Then again, it's not like he'd be happy if Thor turned up with a hickey from Sif or something like that. While the rest of the table engaged in all sorts of conversations, Thor and Quill were both ominously silent.


	12. Chapter 12

It was a good thing Quill only had a few scenes to get through today. He was having trouble focusing-- especially around Stephen. The worst part about it was that he'd actually thought that he'd managed to get a handle on his emotions before the work day started. But then he had to go and notice that Stephen was wearing the watch he'd given him for his birthday and all of those awkward feelings from before had come rushing back. Quill couldn't go on like this. He had to talk to somebody.

During his first break, he scrolled through the list of contacts he had in his phone. Normally, Loki would be his first choice. Loki's blunt logic would have put Quill in his place in no time. Unfortunately, his status as Thor's brother complicated the situation. Quill didn't think Loki would say anything to Thor, but Loki would definitely be disappointed in him. Quill didn't think he could deal with that right now.

Darcy would be a good neutral party. She wouldn't judge him for crushing on Stephen while he was with Thor. But she also had a tendency to blab and, honestly, she didn't always give the greatest advice. She'd probably just end up suggesting an open relationship or polyamory anyway. Quill really didn't think he was the type who could handle a relationship like that considering how badly he reacted to Sif's mere presence. He didn't think Thor would be into it either.

Quill stopped and lingered on Scott's name for awhile. The more he thought about it, the more Quill thought that he might be his best bet. Scott wasn't particularly close to Thor so he wouldn't have the hang ups that Loki did. He'd also given Quill some good advice in the past. The only thing that stopped Quill from calling him right away was the fact that he doubted Scott had any experience dealing with what Quill was feeling right now. He'd always seemed too together for something like that.

He doubted he'd think of a better option, but Quill kept going through the list. He didn't get very far before he stopped for a second time. After a moment of consideration, Quill went ahead and made the call. "Hey, sorry to bother you," Quill started, "I know you're busy, but I could really use some advice."

\---------------------

Seeing as Hela and Loki opted out, Thor was the one who ended up going to pick up their dad from prison. He didn't mind though. Odin wasn't perfect, but he was still their dad. Thor had never stopped caring about him. Once Odin was released, Thor took him into a tight hug. "Let's get out of here, shall we?" Thor asked.

Odin hastily agreed. The two of them got in the car and started the drive home. "So, you're still living in the house next to your boyfriend's?" Odin asked after awhile.

"I am," Thor said.

"Things are going well then?"

"Yeah." Thor wished he could have answered with more resolve. The hickey thing was still on his mind. Quill had warned him that he might have to do things like that, but Thor hadn't realized just how much it would bother him. Someone other than him had touched Quill. His Quill. Thor knew how much Quill loved his job, but he honestly wished Quill would quit. It's not like he actually needed a job anyway. Thor made more than enough money for both of them.

"Thor, are you listening?"

"Huh?"

"I asked you a question."

"I'm sorry. What was it?"

"Are you planning on marrying him?"

"Yes," Thor said without hesitation. At least that was an answer he was confident in.

Odin sighed. "So there's no chance you'll reconsider? I still think that Sif would be a better partner for you."

"I don't love Sif, dad."

"I know. I guess I have to get used to the idea that you'll be marrying beneath--"

Thor pulled over and stopped the car. "Quill is not beneath me," Thor said angrily.

"I did not mean it as an insult. I meant it as a fact. He is not from the same social status that you are."

"A social status you obtained through unethical means."

"I don't want to fight with you, Thor."

"Then shut up about Quill."

"I just want you to actually think about your future for once!" Odin retorted, "have you even thought about having children? You can't do that with a male partner."

"There's always adoption."

"It's not the same thing and you know it."

"That's really what you think? You, who adopted Loki?"

Odin went silent, but that was as good an answer as any. Thor hated the fact that there had been a time when he thought that Odin had treated him and Loki the same. If he'd realized the difference earlier, maybe he could have done something about it.

"I have thought about it," Thor said to end the awkward silence, "and I don't need my future kids to be biologically related to me to love them as if they were." Thor was about to start up the car again when his phone rang. He looked at it and saw that the call was from Loki. Since they were stopped anyway, Thor answered it. "Hey, Loki. What's up?"

"So... As it turns out, Ronan did get your message. A bunch of our partners just backed out. You'd better get to the office so we can figure out our next move."

"Alright," Thor sighed, "I'll see you in fifteen minutes." That said, Thor hung up. That certainly wasn't the news he wanted to hear. He turned to Odin and said, "we're taking a detour."

\---------------------

"Thanks for coming," Quill said as Tony took a seat on the bench next to him. They'd decided to meet each other halfway and ended up choosing a park as their meeting place.

"It's not a problem," Tony said, "just because you aren't in my class anymore doesn't mean we can't see to each other from time to time. Anyway, what did you want to talk about?"

"You can't say anything to anyone else, alright?"

"I wasn't planning to."

"I know, but... it's just really important that you don't. I..."

"Quill," Tony said, looking him in the eye, "I promise. Nothing you tell me leaves this conversation."

"Okay," Quill said, relaxing slightly. He took a deep breath and forced himself to start talking. "I love Thor, but... there's this other guy that I can't get out of my head."

"For how long?"

"Since yesterday."

Tony covered his mouth, but didn't quite manage to muffle the chuckle that came from it.

"You're laughing at me?" Quill grumbled moodily.

"It's just... It's cute." When Quill glared at him, Tony elaborated. "I think you might be freaking out over nothing. People have crushes. Even if they're in a healthy relationship with someone else."

"But this is different than that!"

"What makes you say that?"

"I don't know," Quill sulked, "it just feels more intense or something."

Tony seemed to take this piece of information a little more seriously. "Are you and Thor having problems?"

"No! I... maybe," Quill admitted, "there's just a lot going on right now."

"And you've started thinking that maybe things would be easier if you weren't in a relationship with him at all." It wasn't a question. Tony stated it as if it was a fact. The worst part was that he was right.

"I don't want to give up on us though."

"And you shouldn't," Tony said, "but you can't let things stay the same either. Something has to change or the relationship will die on its own."

"I don't understand."

"Look, this is all coming from my own personal experience so I don't know if it'll be exactly the same for you, but Pepper and I used to be as close as you and Thor. When we got married, I was sure I wouldn't look at another woman ever again. But time passed and things stagnated. I loved her and I didn't want to break up with her, but I wasn't feeling fulfilled anymore. I didn't tell her that though. I was afraid she wouldn't understand. So, I tried filling that void another way-- by cheating. Other women were exciting because they offered something different. Something I thought I wanted. But then I got caught. Our relationship was destroyed because I acted on that impulse. Here's the thing though: I didn't give us a chance. Instead of having an honest conversation with Pepper and coming up with a solution together, I kept pretending everything was fine."

Tony paused for a moment and then continued. "I think you're obsessing over this other guy because he represents that something different you think will fulfill what you're missing right now. And, honestly, it's possible that he is your better choice. But you and Thor have been through a lot together. I wouldn't throw that away without at least trying to work things out. You need to talk to him and try to figure out how to get your relationship back on track. If you can't do that, maybe breaking up is your best option. Distance can give you perspective and it doesn't necessarily have to be forever. Just... don't let your relationship rot like I did."

Shit. What Tony was saying made sense to Quill. He hated that he felt that way. Thor was the best thing that had ever happened to him. But... not being able to spend time together, being jealous of whoever Thor might see in Quill's absence... Things weren't working. And just hoping they'd blow over if they waited patiently wasn't actually fixing anything. "I think you're right," Quill admitted, "but how do I even talk to him about something like that?"

"I don't know," Tony said with a sigh, "I didn't do it, remember? But you love him so I know you'll figure it out somehow."

"Hey, Tony..."

"Yeah?"

"Can I call you again? You know, if I need some more advice."

"You can always call me, kid. Whether you need advice or not."

"Thanks," Quill said. He was really grateful for Tony right now. "You know, I just had a thought. I think Jessica might keep saying no because she thinks you'll lose interest in her if you two get married. You might want to tell her what you told me. You know, so she knows that things won't end the same way they did with Pepper."

"...I think you might have a point," Tony said thoughtfully.

\---------------------

"How did this happen in the first place?" Odin asked as the three siblings discussed the crisis they were in the middle of facing.

"Thor basically told Ronan to fuck off because Ronan made him miss out on a date with his boyfriend," Hela explained in an annoyed tone before commenting on something Loki had said.

"That's not... He blew me off," Thor said defensively. "I got mad."

"Because you didn't get to spend time with your boyfriend."

"Yes, okay? Yes. I got mad because I could have spent that time with Quill. The point is, he was a dick!"

"A dick whose influence might bankrupt our company!" Loki groaned.

"Enough! Is this how you three have been running the company in my absence?" Odin asked, raising his voice. The three responded with a guilty silence that lingered until an assistant poked her head in.

"Excuse me," she said, "I know this is a bad time, but there's someone who'd like to see Thor about a business arrangement."

"They're backing out too then?" Thor sighed.

"No, actually. He said he was interested in becoming a business partner."

Thor, Loki, and Hela exchanged looks. "Send him in, I guess," Thor said.

\---------------------

"Hello," Thor said, going over to the door and greeting the man the assistant just sent in. He hoped that he wasn't coming off as desperate. "I'm Thor. I run this company. Anyway, I don't believe we've met before."

"Yon-Rogg," the man said, holding out his hand. Thor shook it and then offered him a seat. "And we haven't. Honestly, I didn't really know much about you and your company until Ronan decided to go after you."

"So you know about that then?" Thor asked with a frown.

"I do. And it's unfortunate that so many businesses are subject to his whims. The good news is that I'm not. And I see an opportunity for us to make a lot of money together."

"I'm listening," Thor replied.

\---------------------

Once he'd finished making the proper arrangements, Yon-Rogg left the building and got back into his car. From there, he took out his phone and dialed a number. It rang about three times before the person on the other side picked up.

"Is it done?"

"It is," Yon-Rogg replied, "they were all too happy to agree to the deal you had me present."

"Good. As always, I'll send the money to your account right away."

"I appreciate it. If you don't mind me asking though, why go through all this trouble? You don't need the money. I find it strange that you've taken a sudden interest in this company."

"It's all to get my son back."

Well, it was an answer Yon-Rogg supposed. He didn't really understand it though and the boss didn't give him any more context before hanging up. He shrugged. At the end of the day, it wasn't really his business. The boss could ask him to do whatever he wanted as long as he paid his bills. And Ego was a very generous employer.


	13. Chapter 13

Talk to Thor. That should have been easy advice to follow. It was the same advice Quill had given to Peter regarding Loki too. The fact that he was having so much trouble with the concept felt hypocritical. Still, where would he even start? Hey, Thor. Turns out I'm not completely happy? That seemed cruel. Especially since Thor hadn't done anything wrong. Quill sighed and knocked on the door. He had no idea what he was going to say, but if he didn't put himself in the position where he had to say something, he probably never would.

To his surprise, Odin was the one who answered it. Quill had completely forgotten that he got out of jail today.

"Heeey," Quill said awkwardly. Was he supposed to congratulate Odin or something? What was the proper response here?

Odin's frown deepened.

Quill gave up and got to the point. "Is it okay if I talk to Thor for a minute?"

Odin called Thor over and then left the two on their own. "Hey, Quill," Thor smiled. Seeing Quill always made Thor smiled. That was something Quill really loved, but right now it made him feel guilty. Maybe Thor didn't feel the same way he did. Maybe he thought that everything between them was fine. It was one thing if they both felt that something was wrong, but if it was just Quill...

"Do you have time to go for a walk or something?" Quill asked.

"Yeah," Thor said, "just let me put my shoes on real quick." Quill nodded and then waited. Thor didn't keep him waiting long. Once the two had made it away from the house, Thor turned to Quill and asked, "what's wrong?"

"Why does something have to be wrong?" Quill reacted impulsively.

"Because you hate exercise," Thor said with a small smile.

"Yeah... I guess I kind of do."

"So, what's on your mind?"

Quill sighed. "I... feel like something's off with us."

Thor went quiet for a moment.

"Do you feel that way too?"

"A little," Thor admitted.

"Not being able to spend enough time with each other is definitely an issue," Quill said, "but I think there's something else. I guess I feel less... secure. Like, in the past I had zero doubts about us. We were going to be together forever and that was that, but now... I still want to be together, but I feel like it's becoming more complicated. It's not as effortless as it was before."

"Yeah..."

"Can I ask you a question? How do you see our future together? What do you want it to be?"

"Well, we're married for one thing," Thor said, "we have our own house, share the same bed."

"Which we have amazing sex in?"

"Which we have amazing sex in," Thor confirmed with a grin, "and we have kids. I'm thinking around two or three. At least one girl and one boy. Maybe a dog?"

Kids? He wanted kids? As in, multiple children. Beings that would rely on them for, well, everything. They didn't even have time for themselves. When would they have time to raise kids? "Do we have servants or something to look after them?" Quill asked. He had a bad feeling.

"I guess we'd have enough money to hire some, but I figured we'd mostly do that ourselves."

"How?" Quill asked bluntly.

"Well, uh," Thor frowned, "I guess I figured we'd do it together. You'd look after them until I got home..." Thor realized his mistake the second he'd said it aloud.

"You want me to be a housewife?"

"That's not..." Thor sighed, "sorry. I guess that is basically the idea I had in my head. But, Quill, this is the future we're talking about. It's not like I'm asking you to quit your job right now."

"You just expect me to later."

"Okay, so clearly I need to adjust some things."

"Yeah, you do," Quill said, more antagonistically than he'd intended. "I don't need or want you take care of me. And I don't want to quit my job. Hell, I'm just going to say it, I don't want kids either."

"You... don't want kids?" That revelation actually seemed to hurt Thor. Quill guessed that the kids weren't just a passing thought for him. Quill regretted taking such a hard stance on them.

"I don't," Quill said, "they're a lot of work." All Quill could think about was how much Meredith and Yondu had suffered to raise him. Kids definitely weren't the bundles of joy media made them out to be.

Thor took a deep breath. "What do you want then, Quill? How do you see our future?"

"Well..." Quill hesitated, "we're married and have a house together like in yours. I'm still acting though. You're probably still running your dad's company. It's less stressful for you than before though because things have finally settled down. Other than that... we have a lot of sex and it's awesome."

"That's it? Work and sex? That's all you want?"

"Basically? Yes."

"That's not a future, Quill. That's... shallow."

"At least it's not a cliche like yours is," Quill replied defensively, "2.5 kids and a dog? I'm surprised you didn't mention a white picket fence!"

"Cliche or not... it's what I wanted."

Quill immediately regretted his words. Making fun of Thor wasn't what he'd meant to do. "I'm sorry," Quill said after a long pause, "but it isn't what I want."

"And it's not something you think you'll ever want?"

"I don't know," Quill said, "I mean, the dog is okay... You really want kids?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe we aren't... right for each other."

"No," Thor said quickly, "if you don't want kids, you don't want kids. I'll just... learn to live with that."

"That's not fair though. You can't just give up everything you want to make me happy."

"Quill," Thor said, "you're enough. As long as I have you, it doesn't matter what the rest of my future looks like."

"It does though. Five, ten, twenty years from now... At some point you'd resent me. And, even if by some miracle you didn't, I'd feel guilty for ruining your chance at having a family."

"Where does that leave us then?" Thor asked, voice dry.

"I don't know," Quill replied.

"I don't want to break up."

"I don't either, but I don't want to keep feeling this way. I'm... not happy. I hate that we hardly get to see each other, I'm stressed from trying to juggle everything, I can't stand Sif being around you even though she's perfectly nice, and now it's transparently clear that we don't want the same things."

"How many times do I have to say it? There is nothing between me and Sif. We're just friends."

"You're just friends! You don't see the way she looks at you! She is so clearly in love with you! She'd probably be perfectly content as a housewife. She probably wants kids too. Hell, she can actually give you kids!"

"You're really jealous?"

"Yes!"

"You have nothing to be jealous of! It's not like I'm coming home with a hickey on my neck!"

"I told you that was from my job."

"You still let someone else touch you!"

"Because it's my job! We talked about this!"

"I know, but... I'm jealous too. Even if there's no real reason to be."

Quill looked away and bit his lower lip nervously.

And, of course, Thor caught it. "You... actually felt something?"

"...Yes," Quill admitted. His first instinct had been to lie, but they needed to get everything out in the open. "It wasn't as professional as I would have liked it to be."

Thor froze. That had definitely come as a shock to him. Quill supposed he shouldn't have expected otherwise. After all, Thor only had eyes for him. The revelation that Quill wasn't the same had to be devastating. And that was on top of everything else. Instead of saying something, Thor turned around and started walking away from Quill.

"Thor," Quill called after him. When Thor still didn't reply, Quill chased after him and tried again, "Thor!"

When Quill grabbed his wrist, Thor said, "I break up."

"What?"

"That's what you wanted, right? Well, fine. Now you don't have to worry about me getting in the way of your career or your budding romance with whoever gave you that hickey! You don't have to contemplate having kids and you certainly don't have to consider doing something more with your life."

"That's not--"

"We're done, Quill."

\---------------------

Quill was still out of it when he went to work the next day. He'd had a feeling that breaking up had been a possibility, but he didn't think they'd end things on bad terms. Honestly, he'd been working under the assumption that even if they did break up, they'd probably get back together once they both worked through a few personal issues. That didn't seem all that likely now. Quill slumped over in his chair. How the hell was he going to tell his family? They were practically as invested in his relationship with Thor as he'd been.

"Quill, you're up!" the Grandmaster said.

"Right," Quill said, getting up immediately. He still had his job to focus on. Quill was determined not to fuck that up.

Once they'd wrapped up for the day, the Grandmaster suggested they all head back to his house for drinks. As Quill really didn't want to go home, he agreed without hesitation. The rest of the cast and most of the crew also accepted the invitation so it promised to be a lively evening.

"So, you were on fire today," Natasha said, taking a seat next to Quill on the couch. Quill was already half way through his first drink.

"Not the way you were," Quill said, "that last scene you were in... damn! You were scary."

"But in a hot way, right?" Natasha asked teasingly.

"Naturally. I don't think you can do anything in a non hot way."

Natasha chuckled. "I appreciate the boost to my ego."

"Hey, you two," Drax said, approaching them.

Quill got up and practically tripped over himself as he went in for a hug. Drax gladly accepted and then waved Natasha over. She smiled and joined in. "We need to see if we can get Stephen in on this too," she said. "Hey, Stephen!"

"No."

"Come on."

"I said no."

"Come on," Drax added, copying Natasha's puppy dog eyes.

Stephen sighed.

"Come on, Stephen," Quill joined in, "you know you want to."

"I really don't."

"But you'll do it anyway because you love us?"

"Well, if he won't do it, I will," the Grandmaster said, cutting in front of Stephen and joining the group hug. "This may be the most beautiful foursome I've ever been a part of."

"And you ruined it," Natasha said, "now it's creepy."

"I don't know. I'm kind of flattered," Quill said.

"Oh? Well, long shot in the dark, but if you ever want to hook up sometime, we could get into some kinky shit," the Grandmaster said.

"What kind of kinky shit?" Both Drax's and Natasha's mouths dropped.

"Okay," Stephen said, moving in and grabbing Quill by the wrist, "I think somebody's already had a little too much to drink. If you'll excuse us."

Stephen quickly pulled Quill away from the other three. "I'm not drunk," Quill said.

"Yeah? Well, you're not in your right mind either," Stephen said, turning on Quill. "What the hell was that?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'm just looking for a distraction right now."

"By sleeping with your director? What would your boyfriend think?"

Quill bit his lip, tears welling up in his eyes automatically.

"Oh," Stephen said with a sigh. "Quill... I'm sorry."

"It's fine," Quill said, rubbing his eyes, "you can't have a social life and an acting career at the same time anyway, right?"

"That's not... It's hard, but it's not impossible."

"Doesn't matter." Quill let out a sigh and added, "I just really don't want to go home."

"And, if you're sleeping with the Grandmaster, you don't have to do that. You realize that is a terrible plan, right?"

"Yes."

"Come to my house instead," Stephen said, "I won't ask any questions and you can stay as long as you want-- no conditions."

"...I don't know if that's a good idea."

"It can't be any worse than your idea."

"I mean, I probably wasn't going to go through with it."

"Another drink or two and you might have."

"You make a good point. Are you sure it's okay if I stay with you for awhile?"

"Yeah," Stephen said, "I'm used to being on my own so it'll be different, but... it could be fun."

"Okay," Quill said.

\---------------------

Thor took the day off of work. When Loki and Hela questioned him about it, all he'd had to say was that he broke up with Quill to get them off his back. All he wanted to do right now was drink himself into a stupor. He called up Sif and asked her if she was willing to be his designated driver and then headed over to the nearest bar. Sif met him there a few minutes later.

"Hey," she said, taking a seat across from him, "is everything okay? You sounded pretty upset over the phone."

"I broke up with Quill," Thor said, keeping his explanation short. Saying any more than that would send him back into the depressing spiral he'd spent the whole morning trying to dig himself out of.

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"No, you're not. You wanted it to happen."

"I didn't," Sif said with a frown, "I mean, yes, I wanted us to be together and I guess that would have required you to break up with Quill, but that's not the part I wanted. I... The way you're feeling right now... That's something I'd never wish for."

"I'm sorry. I know that, I do. I just..."

"It's okay."

"It's not," Thor said, burying his face in his hands, "why couldn't I have just fallen in love with you? Everything would be so much easier."

"...Are you so sure it's impossible?" Sif asked cautiously.

Thor lifted his head and looked at her.

"Would it be so bad to give it a try?"

"Sif, I..."

"Nevermind. I'm sorry. I--"

Thor reached across the table and put his hand on hers. "Why not?" he asked, "let's try it."

Anything to keep him from thinking about Quill.


	14. Chapter 14

"Come on, Quill. Answer your damn phone," Loki grumbled as he kept his own phone pressed to his ear with his shoulder. He was in the middle of filing away a stack of documents. Normally, he would have been home by now, but with Thor out for the day, he'd had to pick up the slack. Of course, it was hard to focus on work when all he wanted to do was check in with Quill. Loki had tried texting him during his lunch break, but Quill hadn't replied. Now that it was the end of the day, it was time to try something a bit more prodding. The call predictably went to voicemail. Loki sighed and attempted the call a few more times before deciding more drastic action was necessary.

The second he was done with work, Loki went over to Quill's house and knocked on the door. After being greeted by Aunt May, Loki asked if Quill was around. She informed him that he hadn't come home yet. Peter was home though so Loki went to go see him.

"Hey," Loki said with a smile.

"Hey," Peter said returning it. Loki loved that smile. It was so welcoming an warm. He did find it a little unusual today though. With Thor and Quill's break up happening so recently, he would have expected something a little more strained. Unless... Quill hadn't told them anything yet, had he? "Did you just get off of work? That's kind of late for you, isn't it?"

"Yeah, well, it was a busy day," Loki shrugged. "How'd class go?"

"Pretty good. Mr. Stark was in a good mood."

"Oh?"

"Apparently, him and Jessica made some progress."

"She say yes yet?"

"Uh, well, no. But they talked and he thinks he got through to her. So maybe soon?"

"We can only hope." Now if only Thor and Quill would get their shit together. "Anyway, we can continue this discussion in a bit, but I needed to ask for a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"Can I borrow your phone to call Quill?"

"You can't use yours?"

"I tried. He's not answering my calls at the moment."

"Did you two get into a fight?" Peter asked with a frown.

"It's... a little more complicated than that," Loki said. He was really trying not to lie to Peter. Quill should be the one to break the news to his family, not him. "I am trying to fix things though."

"Yeah, okay," Peter nodded. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and brought up Quill's contact information before handing it over. "I hope everything works out."

"Me too," Loki sighed and gave Peter a quick peck on the cheek. "Thank you. Is it okay if I take this outside? Things might get a little personal."

"Of course. I trust you."

"I'll be right back," Loki said before leaving the room. He went outside and took a seat on the sidewalk before making the call. As Loki predicted, Quill took his brother's call.

"Hey, Peter. What's going on?"

"It's not Peter. It's Loki. And I could have used my own phone if you'd stop ignoring my calls." Quill responded with a stunned silence. Loki took that as his queue to continue. "Anyway, don't you dare hang up! I've got some things I need to say." 

"I don't really want to talk about it, Loki."

"Obviously. How have you not told anyone yet?"

Quill fell silent once again.

Loki sighed and softened his tone. He hadn't called to get on Quill's case, after all. "Sorry. That sounded bitchy, didn't it? I do get why you haven't said anything. You do have to tell your family something at some point though."

"I know. It's just... hard. They'll be so disappointed."

"They'll be supportive," Loki said, "your family loves you."

"You can be supportive and disappointed at the same time."

"Yeah, that's true," Loki admitted, "I'm the same in that regard I suppose. I really thought... Well, that's the last thing you need to hear right now, isn't it? That's not what I wanted to talk about anyway. Look, Quill, I don't need to know what happened between you two. It's none of my business. I just... I need you to know that I'm still your friend."

"Aren't you kind of obligated to be on Thor's side though?"

"I'm not obligated to be on anyone's side," Loki said firmly, "he may be my brother, but you're my friend. That matters to me. I'm not about to throw our relationship away because Thor is being an idiot."

"He's not being an idiot though. Not really," Quill replied dryly. "I'm the one who fucked things up, Loki."

"I don't believe that. Thor isn't perfect. I'm sure he played his part in it too."

Quill didn't respond.

"Are you okay, Quill?" Loki decided to ask.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you safe? You're not planning to do anything stupid like hurt yourself?"

"No," Quill said quickly, "I haven't had any thoughts like that. You really thought I would?"

"Not really, but that's not the sort of thing you want to find out after the fact, you know?"

"Yeah. That's true. I promise I'm okay, Loki. Thank you for worrying about me."

"You don't need to thank me for something like that," Loki said, "anyway, I said what I needed to say so I guess I'll let you go. Don't ignore my texts."

"I won't."

"Or my calls."

"I won't."

"And I want to actually see you once and awhile."

"That'll be a little harder."

"What do you mean?"

"I still need to call my family and tell them, but I'm going to be staying at my co-worker's place for awhile."

"Ah. Because you don't want to run into Thor."

"Yeah. Things are too awkward between us right now."

"And they'll remain that way if you keep avoiding each other. Still, it's not a bad idea. You and Thor could both use a few days apart to try and get your heads on straight. Let me know if you need me to bring you anything."

"Stephen's going to let me borrow some of his clothes for tonight, but I am going to have to stop by to get some things tomorrow. I won't bother you for that though."

"Stephen, huh? Alright," Loki said, filing that information away in his head. He wasn't sure he liked that arrangement. The two of them seemed to get along well in their interviews together, but Loki suspected that's exactly why he was having a bit of an issue. Well, Thor had dumped Quill. If Quill moved on to Stephen, that was on Thor. "Text me before you swing by and I'll let you know if Thor's around or not."

"That would be amazing."

"I know. I am too thoughtful."

"I know you're saying that like it's a joke, but you really are. You're amazing, Loki."

Loki was glad Quill couldn't see him as he'd blushed in embarrassment at that. Praise really wasn't something he was used to. He decided to end the call before Quill laid it on even thicker. "I'll talk to you later, Quill."

"Yeah. Later, Loki."

Loki hung up and took a deep breath. He was glad he'd been able to get ahold of Quill. Knowing that Quill wasn't going to cut him off was a huge relief. All that was left was to return Peter's phone. Loki stood up with the intention of doing just that when the phone made a sound indicating Peter had received a text. Before thinking better of it, Loki glanced at it. The actual message was pretty generic. It was the sender's name that bothered Loki. Quentin.

No way that wasn't who he thought it was.

Loki looked through Peter's contacts and got Quentin's number. Once he added it to his own phone, he put his away and took Peter's back.

"How'd it go?" Peter asked.

"It went well," Loki said, "but something came up. I need to go."

"Oh." Loki could tell Peter was disappointed.

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine. We'll just make up for it next time."

"Yeah," Loki said. He said another quick goodbye and headed next door to his house. Once he made it to his room, he called Quentin.

"Hello?" Quentin answered.

"Why are you texting my boyfriend?"

"Ah. Loki. Hey."

"Answer my question."

"Relax. I'm not doing anything malicious. I've just been giving the kid some advice."

"Hah. You expect me to believe that?"

"Believe whatever you want."

"How did he even get your number?"

"We ran into each other at the Grandmaster's party. I asked him how things were going with you and he ended up telling me some things. I guess it was easier to ask me certain questions than it was to go to his brother."

"So you're basically telling me that you've been messing with our relationship since then?"

"I wouldn't phrase it like that. I guess it is fair to say I've been giving it a little guidance from the sidelines. Peter's not complaining though. And I'm sure you've noticed a distinct improvement."

Loki couldn't exactly deny it.

"Face it, Loki," Quentin continued, "I know what makes you tick better than the kid ever will."

"So? What's your point?" Loki asked defiantly, "none of that matters because you're not the one I'm dating."

"Yeah, I'm still a little bitter about that. I guess the kid is pretty adorable though. Very suggestible. Play your cards right and you could get him to do whatever you want."

"And what is it that you want from him?"

"I'm still deciding. I guess it could be kind of fun to see if I could take him from you."

A surge of anger shot through Loki. He closed his eyes and took a moment to force it down. That's exactly the kind of response Quentin wanted. Loki wasn't going to give him the satisfaction. "You won't be able to."

"You think so? Because I don't think your relationship is that solid. How can it be with someone as noncommittal as you?"

Loki bit his lip. A proper response hadn't come to mind.

"You'd better start playing my game, Loki. Because I already have a head start."

Quentin hung up after that, leaving Loki to soak in everything that he'd said. Panic was the emotion that was currently winning. Quentin wasn't someone he could afford to underestimate. And he couldn't just tell Peter to stop talking to him-- not without admitting that he knew that they were exchanging texts. The last thing Loki wanted to do was get into a fight. Especially with everything going on between Thor and Quill.

"Shit," Loki groaned. He had no idea what he should do.

\---------------------

"So this is Stephen Strange's house, huh?" Quill said once the two of them made their way inside. Stephen locked up behind them as Quill wandered further in and took in his surroundings. "It's smaller than I thought it'd be."

"That's because this isn't my main house," Stephen replied, "this is the one I use for my mistresses. I put my secret family up in a different one."

"You know, for half a second I actually thought you were serious," Quill smiled. Stephen was way too good at keeping a straight face. That did kind of make it funnier though.

"What gave me away?"

"The mistresses," Quill said, "more like mister-esses."

Stephen snorted. "That was so bad."

"You liked it anyway."

"I did," Stephen smiled, "anyway, to give you a more serious answer... I don't need the extra room and it's easier to keep a smaller house clean."

"Aren't celebrities supposed to get butlers and maids for that sort of thing?"

"Is that what you're planning to do once you have enough fame and fortune?"

"Not going to lie, an Alfred class butler would be really cool."

"Alfred?"

"Yeah. You know? Batman's butler."

"Right. I did see one of those movies."

"Oh, boy. I did not just hear that. One movie? You've only seen one Batman movie? Like, ever?"

"Maybe? I don't remember. I wasn't aware that was a crime."

"I mean, it's not, but it kind of should be."

"Well, which ones would you recommend then?"

"Really? You'll watch them."

"If you'll watch them with me."

"Okay. But you get to pick some stuff for us to watch too. That way it's fair."

"You think you can handle my taste in movies?"

"Depends. What kind of movies do you like?"

"Ones I have a feeling you'd think were long, artsy, and boring."

"Bring it on."

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you."

Quill was about to reply when his phone went off. "Start thinking about what we should watch first," Quill said as he pulled it out. He'd gotten Loki's call earlier in the day so he figured the text might be from him. As he promised he wouldn't ignore them, Quill decided to check right away. The text wasn't from Loki though. It was from Darcy. She was asking if Quill was free to play D&D tomorrow. He'd never been so grateful that she didn't have Thor's number in his life. It would have been really awkward if she'd invited him before Quill had a chance to tell her they'd broken up.

"Something important?" Stephen asked.

"I mean, no. Not compared to everything else going on," Quill said. It'd be good to see Darcy and the others again. It's not like he had other plans anyway. Actually... Quill looked up at Stephen and asked, "you don't have anything going on tomorrow evening, do you?"

"No. Why?"

"Cool. We have plans then."

"Okay... Am I allowed to know what we're doing?"

"You, good sir, have just been promoted to halfling cleric."

\---------------------

"So, I guess I'll call you tomorrow then," Sif said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear shyly as they stopped at the front door to Thor's house. Her cheeks were a light shade of pink and Thor could tell she was nervous.

"That'd be great," Thor said with a smile. He hoped it didn't look forced. Thor kind of regretted agreeing to a relationship with her so quickly. He may have been drinking, but he was still sober enough to realize that he hadn't been in the right mental state for a decision like that. The damage was done now though. He might as well give her the fair shot she'd asked for. "Thanks for keeping me out of trouble."

"Anytime," Sif said with a nod. "Good night, Thor."

"Night, Sif," Thor replied. Should he kiss her? They were dating now, right? That meant he probably should-- even if it was just on the cheek. He'd literally just broken up with Quill yesterday though. It didn't feel right. Nothing about this felt right. Still, he did it anyway. He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

Her face immediately turned a dramatic red as she looked at him in wide eyed surprise. 

"Too much?" he asked.

"Not at all," she smiled. She said goodbye one more time before getting into her car and driving off. Thor sighed as he watched her go.

"What the hell was that?" Loki asked from behind.

Thor closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Why did it always have to be Loki? "It's none of your business," Thor said, trying to muster up some patience he didn't really have.

"You just broke up with Quill!"

"And now I'm dating Sif."

"Seriously?" Loki asked angrily, "what is wrong with you? All you're going to end up doing is hurting that girl! You know how she feels about you! You can't--"

Thor just walked away. He couldn't listen to Loki right now.

"Really? That's how you're going to handle this?"

"Yes!" Thor yelled, turning on Loki, "because I can't stand you right now!"

"Me? Why am I the problem?"

"Because you got Quill the audition!" That wasn't fair. Some small part of Thor tried to remind himself of that. But he didn't care. If Quill had just continued working at the diner everything would have been fine. It was such a selfish thought and Thor hated himself for thinking it, but it was all he'd been able to think about since their break up.

Loki looked like he'd just been slapped. Thor felt a little guilty, but he was honestly glad Loki didn't have some sort of retort. He didn't think he could have handled it. Thor took a deep breath and then continued on to his room.

The first thing he saw was the small box he'd left on his desk-- the ring he'd gotten for Quill. He'd pulled it out the other night. He supposed he should take it back, see if he could get some of his money back. It's not like he could use it now. He pulled out the desk drawer and put the ring away.

Not yet. He could think about that later, but not yet.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I'm back! Sorry for the long gap between updates (for all my stories)! I had to hyper focus on a particular project during the last half of January so I just didn't have the time. But now I'm done with that and it's time to get back to writing Thorquill stories! Boo yah!

Thor had never been mad at him before. Not like this anyway. And that was saying something considering that Loki used to go out of his way to antagonize Thor pre meeting Quill. It had never really worked back then. But now... How did he fix this? He couldn't make Quill quit his job. He wouldn't want to anyway. Whatever Thor thought about it, Quill loved acting. Getting him to actually take initiative wasn't something Loki regretted. 

Loki sighed. He'd come to the end of the street and wasn't sure what direction he should go in next. Meandering around town without a goal in mind wasn't his idea of a good time, but it beat going home and facing Thor.

Just then, his phone rang. The call was from Peter so Loki picked it up right away.

"Hey, Loki," Peter said cheerfully. Loki wondered if Quill had told him about the break up yet. He was guessing no. Well, Loki wasn't planning to start any drama. That included talking about the whole Quentin thing. He didn't want to risk having Peter mad at him too. Not right now. If that meant ignoring the problem, so be it. 

"What's up?" Loki asked, a bit more to the point than usual.

"Nothing really. I'm just going to be home earlier than usual today so I wondered if you'd want to go do something in a bit."

"I could be persuaded," Loki said smoothly. And by that, he really meant: please, anything to get me out of going home right now. "What did you have in mind?"

"Anything really. Dinner and a movie? Unless you have a better idea. I'd say we could go to the museum or something like that, but it'd be better to have a full day for something like that."

"Dinner and a movie sounds fine."

"Cool. I'll wrap up things here with Mr. Stark and then pick you up. Oh, and I'm good with whatever movie you want to see."

"Sounds good. I'll see you soon." 

Loki was about to hang up when Peter added a quick, "I love you."

Loki blushed. Peter had told him that often enough before, but it was kind of unusual to insert it into such a casual conversation. "I love you too," he replied. He hesitated a moment before deciding to question it aloud. "Is everything alright, Peter?"

"Yeah. I just... I want to make sure you know. Like, really know," he said, his tone a bit sad, "no matter what."

"Why?" Loki pried.

"I guess it's because of Thor and Quill. I don't want you to start pulling away or something just because they broke up."

"Ah, so Quill did tell you."

"Yeah. He's living with one of his co-workers right now."

"I know. He told me."

"You talked to him?"

"Yeah. Once I found out, I called him to make sure he knew we were still friends."

"Did he happen to give you any details?"

"No, he did not. I take it he didn't give you any either?"

"No. I just... They seemed so perfect, you know? I can't imagine what did it."

"Hmm. Well, it's probably related to Quill's career in some way," Loki offered, "considering that Thor is mad at me for making Quill actually go to an audition."

"What? Really?"

"Yeah," Loki paused. He'd kept a pretty even tone through out the conversation, but his voice cracked when he tried to continue. "I, um... I don't really know what to do about it. He said he couldn't stand to see my face right now."

"I don't know what to say," Peter said, "but I am going to hug you as soon as I see you, okay?"

Loki laughed. That was going to be embarrassing, but he probably could use one. "Okay."

"Hey, um... This is probably a dumb idea, but if you need a little space, why don't you ask Quill if you can stay in his room? He's not using it right now. So, if it's easier than going home..."

Loki blinked. That actually sounded pretty great right now. And it wasn't like he'd be super far away from Thor if his brother needed him. They just wouldn't have to run into each other constantly. It might give Thor a chance to cool of and, well, it gave Loki a place to hide. Loki was definitely going to ask. He did take the opportunity to tease his boyfriend a bit first though. "I sense an ulterior motive."

"Maybe. It would be nice to live under the same roof again."

"Could you resist the temptation though? I mean, me, in the room next to yours..."

"Do we have to resist the temptation? Because I'll give in to temptation if you do."

"Heh. Maybe if we give into temptation in your room. Quill would never forgive us if we used his."

"Fair point. So you'll ask him?"

"Yeah. I'll ask."

\---------------------

"My car or yours?" Stephen asked as him and Quill left the house. They were about to head over to Darcy's to play D&D. Quill just had to reply to a few texts real fast.

"We should probably take mine. Yours would draw too much attention in her neighborhood," Quill said as he typed out his response to Loki. It read: Mi room es su room. Which is sort of Spanish for yes, you may borrow my room.

"Fair point. Can your car actually get us there though? It looks like it's about to fall apart."

"Very funny," Quill said, looking up from his phone just long enough to flash Stephen a fake glare. His phone buzzed again, indicating he'd gotten another text. This one was from Tony. Apparently, Peter had told Tony about the break up because he was asking if Quill was okay and apologizing for giving him bad advice. Quill didn't think he had given bad advice though. Yeah, it sucked that they'd broken up, but he didn't regret putting everything out there. After all, now they knew that they'd been wasting each other's time. It would have never worked out in the long run...

"Thor?" Stephen asked with a frown.

"Huh? No," Quill said, refocusing. "Why'd you think it was Thor?"

"Because you had a particularly devastated expression on your face just now."

"Oh," Quill frowned. He hesitated a moment before admitting, "I was thinking about him."

Stephen nodded.

"He's... probably not going to talk to me anymore. Not for awhile, anyway."

"Well," Stephen said gently, "we're going to be too busy playing D&D to notice today. Right?"

"Right," Quill smiled, "you're going to have so much fun. I just know it."

The two of them got into Quill's car after that. Once they'd made it to Darcy's house, they went up to it and knocked on the front door. Quill thought they probably looked a little suspicious wearing baseball caps and sunglasses, but apparently that was the easiest way to hide their identities.

Scott was the one who answered the door this time. Instead of saying anything, he swooped in and gave Quill a huge hug. "We've missed you at the diner so much!" he said.

"I've missed you guys too," Quill said, "I love my job and everything, but it would be better if you guys were there to pester me during my breaks."

"Obviously." Scott pulled out of the hug and straightened up as he turned towards Stephen. "Hey. I'm Scott," he said, offering his hand. Stephen shook it. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Before Stephen could introduce himself, Quill said, "we should probably make this easier and introduce him to the whole group at the same time."

"Fair enough. Come on in."

Scott stepped aside and let the two of them in. Once they got to the living room where the game was set up, Quill took off his hat and sunglasses. Stephen started doing the same. "Hey, guys," Quill said with a smile, "this is my friend, Stephen."

Darcy screamed, startling everyone else in the room. "No way! No fucking way! You brought THE Stephen Strange to my house? STEPHEN FUCKING STRANGE!" She let out another fangirl squeal and told Stephen, "I love you, please marry me!"

"Hey," both Bucky and Sam said simultaneously.

"Darcy, you're kind of making a scene," Quill mumbled.

"If you didn't want me to make a scene, you should have given me a heads up!" Darcy replied.

"I did. I told you I was bringing him."

"No, you told me you were bringing a friend. Not one of the man-gods on my list of top 10 celebrities I'd like to--"

"Aaaaanyway," Gamora interrupted, "we're very sorry about her. She'll calm down in a minute, I promise."

"It's alright," Stephen chuckled, "her reaction isn't exactly unique."

"Yeah, but you shouldn't have to deal with that kind of thing here," Gamora sighed, "I'm Gamora, by the way. That one over there is my boyfriend, Scott. Then there's Sam, Bucky, and Darcy."

"I look forward to questing with all of you."

It took another five minutes to reel in Darcy, but after that things proceeded smoothly. Stephen picked up the rules surprisingly quick and was fully invested in the story. The way he stayed in character inspired the others to do the same and that resulted in an emotional roller coaster of action, drama, tragedy, romance, and comedy. Nobody really wanted to stop, but Bucky eventually forced the group to take a break.

Quill decided to use his break picking off some snacks in the kitchen. Darcy and Gamora came in a few seconds later, talking about how amazing Stephen was. "I wish I'd been that coherent in my first session," Gamora said.

"We should have had him play a bard," Darcy said.

"No, we needed a cleric," Quill chimed in, "otherwise Sam and Scott would have died in their ill advised attempt to woo the innkeeper's daughter."

"Yeah. That was pretty crazy," Darcy said, "who would have thought that the murderer we'd been looking for this whole time was an angry dad who just wanted suitors to stay away from his daughter? My man knows how to keep it interesting." Darcy smiled suggestively and added, "then again, so does yours."

"Darcy!" Gamora hissed.

"We're talking about Scott?" Quill asked, confused.

"No, dummy. I was looking straight at you," Darcy groaned. When Gamora side eyed her, she quickly backed up and said, "though, Scott is also amazing."

"Of course he is," Gamora said, "but that's not the issue. He just broke up with you know who! The last thing Quill needs to hear are your conspiracy theories!"

Quill was starting to put it together now. "Wait," he said, "you're saying Stephen and I..."

"Exactly," Darcy said.

"I just broke up with Thor!"

"So what? You're supposed to lament and brood over him for all eternity?"

"A couple of days isn't eternity."

"Yeah, well, either way, he broke your heart so he can fuck right off!" Darcy said. Her misguided rage on his behalf did make Quill feel a little better. It was nice to know that Darcy cared enough about him to blindly support him. Even if he did feel a little bad for Thor. "He's dead to me! Well, okay, let's be real, I will keep him in my spank bank, but that's it!" Gamora rolled her eyes. "Anyway, my point is this: you and Stephen are already acting like an actual couple so you might as well make it official."

"She is kind of right," Gamora sighed, "I wouldn't rush into anything, but once you're ready... Stephen's pretty great. And you're great together."

"I just..." Quill trailed off. He liked Stephen. A lot. And he was definitely interested in him sexually, if their scene together was anything to go by. But Stephen wasn't Thor. "No. Not right now, at least."

"Alright," Darcy sighed, "you're not ready. I'm sorry I brought it up. Just know that I love you and I want you to be happy."

"I could never forget that, Darcy," Quill smiled, "I love you too."

"Will you stop cheating on me and Bucky, woman?" Sam asked Darcy as he strolled into the room. "How many men do you need?"

"As many as I can get!" Darcy replied cheekily, "I've got to collect them all!"

Sam chuckled and kissed Darcy on the cheek. "Brat."

"Isn't he the greatest?" Darcy giggled happily.

"Who is the greatest?" Bucky asked, pretending to be mad.

"Alright, who didn't invite me to the party that's apparently happening here in the kitchen?" Scott asked. Stephen came into the kitchen shortly after. The group talked for a bit before going back to the living room and resuming the game. It was early morning when the group finally went their separate ways.

Quill yawned. "It's a good thing we don't have work today."

"Agreed. I did not expect it to be that addictive," Stephen responded as they got in the car and prepared themselves for the drive back to Stephen's place. "Thanks for inviting me, Quill."

"Thank you for indulging me," Quill said, "and I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I've been using you as a bit of a crutch. I'm upset about the whole Thor thing and I've been making you do things with me to distract myself. That's not really fair to you."

"Quill, I already knew that," Stephen said, "what you don't realize is that I'm getting as much out of this as you are."

"That's... How?"

Stephen hesitated. "I know that Batman's real name is Bruce Wayne now."

Quill could tell that wasn't Stephen's real answer. But it was funny so Quill didn't push him. "Everybody knows that. How could that have been news to you?"

\---------------------

Mantis was busy in the kitchen when Thor got home. From the smell of it, she was making something sweet. "You're baking?" Thor asked curiously as he entered the kitchen.

"I am. I'm making chocolate chip cookies," she said, giving him a bright smile. "And, before you ask, yes, you can have some when I'm done."

"You are a saint. I needed a pick me up after the day I had."

"I figured," Mantis nodded, "it's... been a rough couple of days."

"Yeah," Thor sighed. He took a seat at the kitchen table.

"But you got out there and went to work today anyway. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Mantis," Thor said, managing a smile. 

Mantis beamed at him for a moment before turning back towards the oven to check on the cookies.

"Has Loki gotten home yet?" Thor asked. He wasn't sure he was ready to apologize, but he was a little worried. Thor hoped that Loki hadn't taken his words to heart.

"Loki... isn't coming home," Mantis said quietly.

"What do you mean?"

"You can still reach him if you need to!" Mantis added quickly, noting the concern in Thor's tone. "He promised he wouldn't ignore your calls or anything. He just thought you might want some space after your fight."

"I see," Thor frowned. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. "Is he staying at mom and dad's place?" Since Odin was back, he had control of the house again.

"Um, no. He's staying next door actually."

"With Quill?" Shit. It hurt saying his name out loud.

Mantis shook her head. "Quill's living with one of his co-workers right now."

"Which one?" Thor asked. He didn't know why he was asking. The answer didn't really matter, did it? Thor was going to be upset about it no matter what.

"The one he did those two interviews with, I think."

Thor didn't like that at all. "I see."

Mantis went over to Thor and put a hand on his shoulder. "There's... something else I should tell you," she said, "I know it's a terrible time for this, but now that Odin's back, Hela is looking into getting her own place. She said she wanted me to live with her. And I... Well, I really want to."

Thor clenched his fists nervously. "That's great," he said, forcing himself to sound cheerful. He wanted to be happy for her, but all he could think about was how lonely the house was going to feel without her and Loki.

"Yeah," Mantis said gently, "but I don't have to move in right away." She crouched down and took Thor's hands into hers before looking him in the eyes. "If you want me to stay until you make up with Loki, I will."

"I'm an adult. I can handle being alone. If you want to live with Hela... well, don't let me hold you back."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"I'll be fine," Thor lied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thor is not okay.


	16. Chapter 16

Family dinner, huh? Quill stared at the message on his phone from his spot on Stephen's couch. He really should go. But what if Thor showed up? It had been a few weeks since they broke up now, but he still felt weird about it. Quill let out a sigh and leaned back into his seat. He'd actually had an excuse for skipping the last couple of dinners, but now that shooting had wrapped up and they'd finished their latest round of interviews, Quill couldn't count on work to get him out of it.

Speaking of work, the first episode would be airing soon. That was both terrifying and exciting. He was pretty sure the audience would like the show, but he was a little worried they might not like him. Yeah, everyone had said his acting was decent, but what if other people didn't feel that way? He was the only normal person in a cast of award winning actors. Maybe it didn't matter how good he was. If he didn't shine like they did, he'd be known as the low point in the Grandmaster's latest masterpiece in every online review. He'd--

Stephen bopped Quill on the head with a rolled up magazine. "Stop," he said simply.

"How do you always know?" Quill grumbled.

"Your expression turns all serious when you're feeling insecure about something," Stephen said, taking a seat next to Quill, "so work or Thor this time?"

"Both."

"Well, I know why you're nervous about work. Did something happen with Thor? Or is it just the usual?"

"May invited me over for one of our family dinners and I don't have something conveniently scheduled during it this time. I'm going to have to go."

"And Thor is going to be there?"

"I don't know. Probably not. I imagine he's been avoiding them the same way I've been. But... he still lives next door. The possibility of running into him makes me nervous."

"Hm. Would that really be so bad? If you talked to him you might actually be able to sort things out."

"Talking to him is how I got into this mess in the first place. I kind of wish that I hadn't said anything. Then we'd still be together and..." Quill buried his face in his hands, "and be having the same issues as before. God, I'm so dumb."

"You're not dumb. You still love him."

"It's pretty much the same thing."

"You've got me there," Stephen said with a slight smile. That somehow put Quill in a slightly better mood. "I can go with you, you know?"

"Hm? Where?"

"To your family dinner. Assuming an extra guest isn't an issue."

Quill wanted to jump on that offer immediately, but he stopped himself. "I think... I need to go by myself," he said after a moment, "don't get me wrong, I'd love for you to come to one of them in the future, but I need to learn how to do things by myself again, you know? Before I start depending on you for everything. I'll never leave your house at this rate."

"I wouldn't mind that."

"Yeah, right."

"I'm serious," Stephen replied, "I like having you around, Quill."

Quill blushed slightly at that. He really wasn't a burden? Stephen would tell him the truth, right? Quill stared at Stephen in silence for a moment.

"Something on my face?" Stephen asked.

"N-no," Quill said, immediately turning his attention to his phone.

Thankfully, Stephen didn't pry further. Instead, he said, "call me if something happens, alright? I'll come right away." That said, he casually flipped open his magazine and started reading as if he hadn't just said something sweet.

Quill texted May back saying that he'd be there.

\---------------------

Thor waited for Sif in the driveway. It seemed less lonely than waiting in an empty house. The silence was slowly driving him crazy. Luckily, Sif always seemed to have time for him. She'd drop everything to come see him. Thor felt a little bad about that, but if she was enjoying herself it should be alright, right?

"I'll see you guys later," came a familiar voice from next door. Quill. Thor supposed he'd been visiting his family. Thor hadn't counted on that. He bit his lip as he tried to decide what to do. He wasn't mad anymore, but there was definitely an uncomfortable mixture of nervousness, embarrassment, and sadness there that he felt would keep him from interacting with Quill like a normal person. Still... Thor couldn't pass up the chance to at least see him. He turned in Quill's direction just as Quill realized Thor was in the driveway.

"H-hey," Thor tried. It was better than nothing. At least, he hoped it was.

"Hey," Quill replied. Thor could tell he was nervous too. An awkward minute passed between them before Quill tried striking up a conversation. "Um... You know you're still invited to our family dinners, right?"

"That was today, wasn't it? I completely forgot," Thor sighed, "Loki invited me, but... I didn't think you'd want me there."

"Of course I want you there."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I know things are awkward between us right now, but you're important to me whether we're dating or not. I don't want to be strangers."

Thor hesitated. He didn't want to be strangers either. The problem was that he didn't know if he could just be Quill's friend. There were too many emotions there. Just seeing Quill had brought up a well of desires he couldn't compartmentalize in a healthy way. He wanted to touch Quill, to hold him, to do all the things they used to do together. "I don't know if I can just be friends with you, Quill," Thor admitted sadly.

"...I see," Quill said quietly.

Another awkward pause passed between them. "Maybe it's just too soon though," Thor said, offering up some hope for both him and Quill. He had the feeling that was a lie, but cutting Quill out of his life the way he thought he should just wasn't an option. "Maybe in time..."

"Yeah," Quill said with a strained smile, "then maybe things can get back to normal between us."

Normal. Thor didn't like normal. It was better than whatever this was, but it wasn't enough. It had to be enough though. Thor couldn't get involved with Quill again. Not when he knew nothing would come of their relationship in the end. It would just hurt all the more the longer they pretended things would work out. "Congratulations on finishing the filming for season 1, by the way," Thor said, trying to lighten up the conversation.

Quill did seem to perk up at that. "Thanks. The first episode is going to be airing soon. Do you think you'll watch it?"

"Yeah. I'll watch it," Thor said with a nod. He'd actually been struggling with that dilemma for awhile now. He still wanted to support Quill in his own way, but he knew he was going to have a problem with the romance scene. That shouldn't happen in the first episode though. He could decide how he felt about continuing after watching the premiere.

"That's great," Quill beamed at him, "I don't have a big part in the first episode, but I think you'll still enjoy it!"

"It's you, so of course I will," Thor smiled gently. Quill blinked in surprise. It wasn't until then that Thor realized that he'd automatically slipped into his old habits. He coughed and cleared his throat. "S-sorry. I didn't mean to..."

"It's fine," Quill blushed. He hesitated a moment and then said, "Thor, I know that us being together doesn't really make sense anymore, but I still--"

Quill stopped short as Sif pulled into the driveway. She got out of the car and went over to Thor's side, immediately taking Thor's hand into hers. "Sorry for interrupting," she said, "but I thought it'd be just as weird if I waited in the car. I can head inside the house though if you two want to talk privately for a bit."

Her grip on Thor's hand told him that she was really hoping he didn't opt for that last option. She was right to be scared. If him and Quill had talked any longer, it probably wouldn't have mattered that she was the one he was dating right now. "It's okay," Thor said with a sigh, "I should probably let Quill get home anyway."

"Are you... and her?" Quill asked. He was trying to keep himself together, but he was obviously upset. 

There was no good way to say it. Thor decided to be blunt. "We're dating."

"Oh. W-well, um... that's great. I guess I should leave you two lovebirds alone then." Quill quickly turned to go, but not before Thor caught sight of tears forming in his eyes.

"Quill, wait."

Quill shook his head and hurried to his car. He got in, slammed the door, and pulled out of the driveway. Damn. That's not how Thor wanted it to go down. There was nothing he could do about it now though.

"He'll be okay," Sif said quietly. Thor hoped so.

Together, they headed into the house and settled in on the couch. They flipped through their movie options until Sif asked if Thor was okay with the one she'd picked out. It was another romance movie. Sif definitely had a favorite genre. Personally, Thor would have liked a bit more variety, but he agreed to it anyway. It honestly didn't matter what movie she picked. He was still going to spend its duration wishing he was watching a terrible sci fi film with Quill.

\---------------------

Why? Of all people, why did it have to be her? Quill couldn't concentrate. He was too preoccupied with the idea of Sif and Thor being together. It didn't make sense. Yeah, he'd been jealous of her, but deep down he'd always thought that it was an irrational fear. It wasn't so irrational now though. He really wished that Loki had given him a heads up. Then maybe he wouldn't have come off as a total loser back there.

I still love you. That's what he'd been about to say. This whole time he'd been thinking of Thor, but Thor... How quickly had he switched over to Sif? Was it really that easy for him to move on? After everything they'd been through together!

A rabbit suddenly ran across the road, surprising Quill. He turned the wheel to avoid it and ended up driving off the road. Things spiraled out of control from there.

\---------------------

It was amazing how quickly Stephen had gotten used to having Quill around. Going back to his quiet evenings alone felt a little empty. He sighed and tried to refocus on the book he had been reading. He must have read the same page five times already. When he realized he'd lost his place again, Stephen closed it and put it aside. There was no way he was making any progress tonight. Maybe he should go make himself some tea or something. As he was considering his options, his phone rang. Quill's name was displayed prominently on the screen. Stephen picked it up and answered immediately.

"Hey, Stephen," Quill said. He sounded tired. "I'm sorry. I really didn't want to have to call you, but I..."

"It's fine," Stephen interjected, "what happened?"

"I, um... I killed my car."

"You got into an accident?"

"Yeah. There was this rabbit and... Well, I probably shouldn't have been driving in the first place. I'm not... I'm not in the right mindset right now."

"Are you hurt?"

"Physically? No."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. I'm not sore anywhere and everything seems to be in one piece. The tree I ran into seems to be in tact too, go figure. My car took all the damage." Quill response sounded a bit calmer than before. Stephen supposed he could take his word for it. He relaxed a little. A car was a small price to pay. If Quill had gotten hurt... "I know it's a piece of shit, but I've had this car for so long."

"Maybe you can get it fixed."

"I can't. I took a look at it myself. It'd be cheaper to buy a new car than it would be to repair it."

So Quill knew something about cars. That was interesting, but it wasn't exactly important right now. Stephen filed that tidbit of information away and said, "I'm sorry."

"Yeah..." Quill sighed.

"Where are you now? I'll come pick you up."

Stephen was out the door and on the road as soon as Quill gave him directions. It didn't take him long to find Quill's car. Quill was just sitting in it, blankly staring out the windshield. Stephen pulled over and got out of his car. "Quill," he said, knocking on the window. Quill quickly rubbed his eyes and looked at Stephen. They were a bit swollen and red. He'd definitely been crying. Stephen backed off and Quill opened the door. "T-thanks. You know, for coming."

"I said I would."

"Yeah, but I didn't expect you right away, you know?"

"I was worried."

"I know. I'm sorry. I really fucked up."

"But you're okay and that's what matters, alright?" Stephen said gently, crouching down so he was looking up at Quill instead of down at him.

"I don't feel okay."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Okay," Stephen said, putting a hand on Quill's knee reassuringly, "what else can I do? Have you called for a tow truck? I can take care of that if you'd like."

Quill hesitated for a moment. He seemed to be thinking something over. "Help me," he started finally, "help me stop thinking about all the shitty things that have happened lately for one goddamn minute." Stephen blinked. He knew that line. It's what his character said to get Quill's character to sleep with him. If Quill was saying that... Was this a roundabout way to ask Stephen to have sex with him? Stephen was more sure he'd reached the correct conclusion when Quill recited the next couple of lines. "Because I can't handle this right now. I just can't."

"Okay," Stephen replied with Quill's line. This was a bad idea, but Quill had asked him in a way where they could both pretend it wasn't real. They were just getting lost in a scene. Stephen put his hands on Quill's cheeks and placed a kiss on his forehead. "You don't need to say any more. It's okay." Stephen moved down and kissed Quill on the lips. That was Quill's chance to stop it, but he didn't. Instead, he wrapped his arms around Stephen's shoulders and leaned into the kiss. It was a little different from their original scene now. Instead of raw passion, this was kind of sweet. "How far do you want to go, Quill?" Stephen asked quietly. The question probably ruined the mood a little, but it was something he needed to know.

"How far am I allowed to go?" Quill asked.

"As far as you want," Stephen replied, "but we should probably switch to the back seat if you want to try anything more involved."

Quill looked Stephen in the eye. "Let's go then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just an fyi, I messed with the tags a bit. I added Quill/Stephen as a pair since, well, that's a thing right now. I figured it was too big to ignore. I thought about adding Sif/Thor too, but I imagine anyone actually looking for that pairing would be disappointed. I definitely haven't been giving it the same level of effort I've given Quill/Stephen. (So sue me! I didn't expect to fall in love with that pairing when I started writing this story!)
> 
> I also downgraded Gamora/Scott and Tony/Jessica to side relationships. I haven't been able to include them as prominently as I'd like so I figured it was long past due to do that. Hopefully I'll find a way to squeeze them in more as the story progresses.


	17. Chapter 17

Quill woke up in a bit of a daze the following morning. Last night didn't feel real. It had definitely happened though. The series of hickeys along his torso were proof of that. Stephen had certainly taken advantage of the fact that they had some time off to let them heal. Of course, Quill had started it. If he remembered correctly, Stephen should have one somewhere near his neck. Quill touched the spot on his own body as he looked himself over in the mirror.

Stephen had really taken care of him last night. After they'd had sex, he'd made all the important calls, made sure Quill had gathered up his stuff, and then drove him back to his place. All without any judgement. It'd probably be the same today. The second he walked out of his room, Stephen would act like nothing had happened.

Quill didn't want to pretend that nothing had happened though.

Quill slapped his cheeks and went to take a quick shower. That gave him enough time to put his thoughts in order. Once he was done, he got dressed and went into the living room to look for Stephen. Stephen wasn't in the living room, but it wasn't exactly hard to find him. Judging by the amazing smell coming from the kitchen, Stephen was already hard at work on breakfast.

"Good morning," Stephen said, looking up from the frying pan just long enough to acknowledge Quill's presence.

"Morning," Quill replied. He took a seat at one of the counters and watched Stephen cook for a bit.

"How are you feeling today?" Stephen asked.

"Sore. Doing it in the backseat of a car isn't as much fun as it looks on TV," Quill said carelessly as he leaned against the counter. Stephen avoided looking at Quill. Quill could still see a slight blush in his cheeks though. He bet that he could get those cheeks even redder. "You were amazing though. You're so controlled in every day life that it's kind of strange to see you let loose like that."

Stephen coughed and cleared his throat. "I didn't mean physically."

"I know," Quill said, adopting a more serious tone. "And I'm better. Thanks to you."

"Good."

"Stephen, I..."

"We can talk about it more in a bit. Let's eat first, alright?"

"Alright."

Things felt relatively normal over breakfast. Stephen had kept the conversation casual by asking Quill about movies he'd recommend. That somehow turned into Quill listing his top ten Drax movies and explaining in great detail why they ranked where they did. The conversation ended up being a little one sided, but Stephen didn't seem to mind. If anything, he seemed amused.

Stephen went to pick up the plates once they were both done, but Quill stopped him. "I've got this part," Quill said, "you cooked so I'll take care of the dishes."

"I appreciate that. Thank you, Quill."

"I-it's not like there's that much to do in the first place," Quill said, blushing slightly. That was too much praise for such a small task.

"Quill," Stephen started after a moment.

"Yeah?" Quill said, looking back at him as he turned on the sink. Stephen was staring into his cup of tea. He looked pretty serious. Quill supposed it was time for the talk they'd been putting off.

"I need to confess something."

Confess something? What could Stephen possibly have to confess? Quill gave him his full attention, putting the plates to the side for the moment.

"I didn't plan on telling you so soon after your break up, but in light of recent events... I think it'd be unfair to keep it from you," Stephen said, "I didn't have sex with you just because you asked me too. I did it because I wanted to." He looked Quill in the eye and said, "I'm in love with you, Quill."

Quill turned a more vibrant shade of red. That was honestly the last thing he'd been expecting. They got along well and he'd known that Stephen liked him. Quill had just thought that it was as a friend. When Quill had imagined the kind of guy that Stephen would be attracted to, it was someone classy and capable. Not him. "You sure?" Quill asked.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"W-why though? I mean, I'm not... all that. And I'm pretty sure all you've done is take care of me! That should be annoying, right?"

"You have no idea what you do for people, do you?" Stephen asked with a smile.

"What do you mean?"

"You include them."

Like making friends? Was that what Stephen was trying to say? "That's not all that special though. Anyone can do that."

"But you make it seem so effortless. And there is a sincerity to the way that you make friends that can't be faked."

"I don't really get it."

"You don't need to," Stephen said with a kind smile, "just know that you've made my life much more interesting."

"So you're not annoyed that I called you in the middle of the night, made you drive to the middle of nowhere, and then asked you for a booty call in the most roundabout way possible?"

"I was into it," Stephen chuckled. He then answered more seriously, "honestly, I was just grateful that you were okay. If you'd gotten hurt in that crash, I'm not sure what I would have done."

Quill stared at Stephen for a moment, slipping into his thoughts. He liked Stephen. He really did. He didn't love him the way he loved Thor, but there was something there. Something Quill thought had potential. Maybe... Maybe he could fall in love with Stephen. If he gave it a chance. "So... what does all of this mean for us?" Quill asked shyly, "do you, um, want to be my boyfriend or something?"

"I do," Stephen said simply. Quill's heart skipped a beat excitedly. "But I don't think that's a decision you should make right now."

"Why not?"

"Because your decision is bound to be affected by what happened yesterday. I don't want you to rush into this. If you're going to be with me, I want it to be because it's what you really want. Not because you're feeling reckless after last night."

Stephen did have a bit of a point. Quill felt like he was in his right mind, but he was definitely in a mood to make spur of the moment decisions. Still, he didn't think he'd change his mind about Stephen. Thor wasn't an option anymore. Even if he was, he wanted things that Quill just wasn't interested in. Stephen didn't. He was basically married to his career, right? That probably meant his image of the future was similar to Quill's. "How do you feel about kids?" Quill asked suddenly.

Stephen definitely thought it was a weird question, but he answered anyway. "They're not something I particularly want. Maybe in the future, when I'm done with acting, I'd reconsider, but--"

Quill went over to Stephen and kissed him. Stephen was a bit startled, but it didn't take long for him to give into it.

"I was serious about you taking some time to think about it," Stephen said with a frown once they finally pulled away from each other.

"We don't need to be dating to make out though, right?" Quill asked impishly.

"A friends with benefits situation, huh? I don't know, Quill."

"We need to get some practice in before we start filming season 2 though, right? We want our scenes together to be convincing."

"Were you always this rotten?" Stephen asked with an amused smile.

Quill didn't know why he was in such a playful mood. He wasn't normally this needy. Still, after going awhile without sex, the idea of going a little overboard was kind of enticing. It was amazing to actually have the time for it too. They had all day to mess around. No more squeezing it in late at night when Quill was already completely drained. "Sounds like I need a little discipline, don't you think?"

"Fine, you win," Stephen said with a sigh, "what exactly did you have in mind?"

"I don't know," Quill said, "um, how do you feel about roleplay?"

"Quill, I'm an actor."

"That's a yes then. For starters, how do you feel about reprising your doctor role?"

"You know, I think I still have one of the coats from the show."

"Hell yeah."

\---------------------

"Boo!" came Loki's voice from behind.

Peter nearly jumped off the couch in surprise, dropping his phone in the process. "Ah, Loki, hey," he said, collecting himself as he picked his phone up off the floor.

"Sorry. I didn't think you'd be that surprised. Is your phone okay?"

"It's fine," Peter said quickly, "I drop it all the time. It's pretty durable."

"Uh huh."

"A-anyway, I didn't think you were back from work yet."

"I snuck out a bit early," Loki said, leaning on the back of the couch. He didn't say it, but Peter imagined it was so that he could avoid Thor. They still hadn't talked to each other since their fight. Peter liked that it meant that Loki was staying in the same house as him, but they really needed to patch things up. "Who were you texting so intently?"

Peter froze. He'd actually been texting with Quentin. He couldn't tell Loki that though. He jumped to the first person he could think of that wasn't Quentin. "Ned."

"What's he up to?"

That was easy enough. "He's in Wakanda for a wedding right now."

"He's getting married to Shuri?!"

"No! Not yet, anyway. Her brother is the one getting married."

"Oh," Loki said simply. "Rogers and T'Challa then? I probably would have known that if Thor and I were still talking."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to make you think about that."

"It's alright. It's not like I can really forget about it in the first place." Loki moved to the front of the couch and took a seat next to Peter. "I hope he's doing alright."

Peter smiled. "You're a really great brother."

"Hah. Yeah, right."

"You are."

"Maybe these days. Back before I met Quill, I went out of my way to torment him. It seems silly now, of course, but I was jealous of him. Him being the favorite child, the one everyone seemed to flock to..."

"Yeah, well, I like you better. And if we'd gone to high school together, I would have let you know that."

"You're adorable," Loki said, resting his head on Peter's shoulder. He closed his eyes and added a quiet, "don't cheat on me, okay?"

Peter frowned. Did Loki know something about Quentin? It wasn't cheating, but it was kind of sneaky. Peter just didn't think Loki would understand if he told him. And Quentin had been giving him good advice. Hell, him and Loki were closer than ever because of it. Peter took Loki's hand in his. "I won't," he said, "I promise."

Loki opened his eyes and sat up so that he was looking at Peter. Then, he pinned Peter to the couch and went in for a kiss. Peter yelped in surprise, but then yielded. This was different. Usually, he was the one who had to take charge. He was definitely okay with it though.

"Peter, are you home?" May's voice suddenly interrupted. The two of them split apart instantaneously. "Could you help me with the groceries?"

"We're coming," Loki called back, getting up from the couch.

So much for that.

\---------------------

Sif had dragged Thor out of the house for a night of drinking with Fandral, Volstagg, and Hogun. It was good to see them, of course, but something seemed a bit off with Fandral. When Thor tried to ask him about it, his question had been brushed off. He didn't join in when Volstagg and Hogun laughed at Thor's jokes either. By the time Fandral volunteered to go get more drinks with Sif, Thor knew something was up.

"Hey, is it just me or has Fandral been trying to ignore me?" Thor asked the other two.

Volstagg and Hogun exchanged uncomfortable looks. Then, Volstagg sighed and said, "well, he's kind of mad at you at the moment."

"What? Why?"

"Because you're dating Sif," Hogun explained.

"He's interested in her?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure," Hogun shrugged, "but whether his feelings are romantic or platonic, he is afraid that you're going to break her heart."

"He doesn't believe our relationship will last?"

"Look, Thor, no offense, but none of us do," Volstagg said bluntly, "the only difference between us and Fandral is that we think this will ultimately be good for her. She's been crushing on you since she was a little girl. Her feelings weren't going to go away on their own. Now that she's dating you, she'll finally be able to figure out you aren't the perfect guy she's always seen you as."

"Agreed. It will be a harsh lesson, but she needs to get you out of her system," Hogun nodded sagely.

"All three of you, huh?" Thor grumbled. He was a bit miffed that none of them believed in his relationship with Sif, despite the fact that he had his own doubts. "What makes you so sure things won't work out between us?"

"You really have to ask? Seriously, Thor, have you actually done anything genuine with Sif since you started dating? Something that wasn't just going through the motions?" Volstagg asked.

Thor frowned. He wished he could deny it, but Volstagg had a point.

"That's what we thought," Hogun sighed, "but we get it. She asked you out too soon after your break up."

"There's no way you can take her seriously while you're still messed up over that Quill guy. Your feelings for him were the real deal."

"They still are," Thor admitted quietly.

"And that's your problem right there," Volstagg pointed out. "Until you can move on properly, you have no business dating Sif."

"I just... I didn't want to be alone and I figured what's the harm, you know? She was getting something out of it too."

"Except that now you're miserable in a different way," Hogun said, "and you're going to drag Sif down with you when you finally break it off with her."

"What else was I supposed to do?"

"I don't know? Lean on your friends for support?" Volstagg asked sarcastically.

"I haven't really been a good friend to anyone lately though. I kind of made everything about Quill while I was dating him." He'd lost touch with a lot of the people he'd hung out with in college. The only one he'd contacted recently was T'Challa and that was to congratulate him on his upcoming wedding to Steve. He'd been invited, but Thor had to decline because of work. Work and Quill. That had been his life before now.

"I was talking about us, you know? Geez. Look, I know we only recently reconnected, but the three of us would have been there for you the second you got in touch. You shouldn't take the friendships you've made so lightly. They're not as easy to break as you think."

"Guys," Thor muttered, nearly moved to happy tears by his friends.

"That being said, Sif is basically our princess," Hogun said, "if the two of you have a falling out, we at least have to pretend to be on her side until we manage to smooth things over."

"Fair enough," Thor said with a slight smile. It was good to know that he was less alone than he'd thought. He really should make the time to come see more of their concerts. Now, if he could just get on good terms with Loki again... "Sorry. There's something I have to do real quick. I'll be back in a minute."

Hogun and Volstagg nodded as Thor left the table. He headed outside of the club, looking for a bit of privacy. An actual call was a bit too much for him to handle, but he could at least send his brother a text. Thor pulled out his phone and took a second to consider what he should write. He eventually settled on a simple 'sorry' and sent it. It wasn't great, but at least he'd finally said it.

He was about to go back inside when Loki texted him back. The first one read: I'm sorry too. The second he'd got in touch, huh? It looked like that didn't just apply to the Warriors Three. Loki was typing out another message. It took a few more seconds, but eventually Thor got a lengthier block of text back: I wasn't wrong about Quill. The job was made for him and I don't regret pushing him. I do regret hurting you though. I never thought about what it'd do to the two of you. So, yeah. I'm sorry about that. Really sorry. I never wanted to come between you and Quill.

Thor texted him back: None of it was your fault. I just took it out on you because I needed someone to blame.

Thor hesitated and then sent another text: Please come home.

About a minute passed before Thor got Loki's reply: Okay.

It really was that simple, huh? Thor let out a relieved laugh. He was glad. Having Loki back would do wonders for his mood. They still had some work to do to get back to normal, but at least they were both trying now. It made Thor consider sending another text. He took a deep breath and started a message to Quill. The one he had in mind was a bit riskier, but against his better judgement, he decided to write it anyway. 

I still love you too.

It was a terrible idea. Especially since he couldn't be 100% sure that's what Quill had intended to say. The whole Sif situation complicated it even more. Still, it's what he wanted to tell Quill. He hit send before he lost his nerve, already knowing it wasn't going to work out the way he wanted it to. It was the truth though and Quill deserved to know he wasn't the only one who felt that way.

Thor didn't wait for a response. He didn't expect Quill to reply in the first place. He just turned off his phone and headed back inside the club. 

Sure enough, Fandral and Sif were back with drinks. Something genuine with Sif, huh? He could probably manage that if he thought of her as his friend instead of his girlfriend. He turned to her and asked, "dance with me?"

She beamed at him and took his hand. Together, they hit the dance floor. Spending time was actually genuinely fun this time. The way she flashed goofy faces at him to make light of her mistakes was even endearing. He looked forward to finding out what else he'd missed while he was hung up on Quill.


	18. Chapter 18

I still love you too.

Quill stared at the text for a solid minute, feeling a barrage of different emotions one after the other. Joy, doubt, hope, sadness, anger, resignation, and more. A couple of them even repeated themselves. Why? Why did Thor have to tell him that now? He'd been feeling okay-- good even-- until he'd gotten the text. Fooling around with Stephen had been the cathartic release he'd needed, but now... Quill felt guilty about it. And then he felt mad about feeling guilty. Thor was the one who'd moved on first! He had no right to tell Quill that he still loved him while he was with her.

And what the hell did the text mean anyway? It's not like Thor had said he planned to break up with Sif so that they could try again. It was just a statement. No promises attached. Quill supposed he could text him back and ask for some kind of clarification, but that seemed like a gateway to trouble he really didn't need.

Maybe he shouldn't reply at all. 

Quill shook his head. This was a chance to talk to Thor again. If he didn't take it... he was afraid they'd never talk again. He tried typing out several different messages, but none of them felt right. He let out a frustrated groan and then took a deep breath, trying to focus. What did he want to say? Dump Sif so they could reignite their doomed relationship? Yeah, that was messed up. Especially after everything that had happened with Stephen.

Quill really did like Stephen. He'd been there for him at every turn lately on top of being a great human being in general. And he was sweet, thoughtful... great at sex. 

Quill blushed slightly as he recalled their earlier escapades. Sleeping with Stephen had been a wholly different experience than sleeping with Thor. They were both skilled, though Quill would have to lean in Thor's favor if it came down to purely physical aspects. The thing about Stephen was that he knew how to draw it out, how to build things up until Quill couldn't stand it. Thor had always been a bit straightforward. He was an amazing cuddler though. Having Thor's arms wrapped around him after sex had always made Quill feel loved. That sort of thing didn't come as naturally to Stephen. What did come naturally to him was roleplaying. Hot damn, Quill had to set himself up another appointment with Doctor Strange. 

Quill stopped himself there. Sex was fun and all, but he shouldn't be comparing them like that. If he was going to make a decision... Quill sighed and looked himself over in the mirror. He didn't want to make a decision. He wanted to run away and hide. Why couldn't things be straightforward? Like they used to be with Thor. That thought made Quill want to bang his head against a wall. Luckily, Stephen's interruption stopped him.

The door to his room was already open so Stephen knocked on the door frame to announce his presence. "I was going to suggest that we go get some dinner," Stephen said, "but if you're too worn out from today's activities, I can order some take out."

"Let's go the take out route," Quill declared, thankful for the distraction. He wasn't ready to break up the domestic atmosphere they'd created. Putting on a proper outfit sounded like a bit of a pain anyway. "We can watch that documentary you were interested in while we eat."

"You're up for that?"

"Yeah, sure. They can't all be as boring as I think they are."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that last part," Stephen smiled. He then proceeded to run Quill through a list of food options. Once they'd agreed on a restaurant, Stephen left the room to go make the call. Quill put his phone down and headed to the living room. While Stephen was working on that, he figured he could get the TV set up. He grabbed the remote and pushed the power button. The first thing that came up was an interview. Quill hesitated when he saw who it was with.

"So, your latest series of paintings. What's the inspiration behind them?" the host asked.

"Well," Ego started, scooting forward on the chair, "if I had to narrow it down to one word, I'd say regret."

"Would you care to elaborate on that?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact. In recent years, it's come to my attention that I've failed as a father. It's common knowledge that I have an adopted daughter. When I raised her, I taught her things I thought would help her succeed in life. However, it wasn't until my biological son came to visit that I realized that what I thought was me being a loving parent might have actually been harmful. I honed her skills, but I wasn't there for her on an emotional level. Just like I wasn't there for my son. So, these paintings are my way of channeling my regret regarding the way I treated the two of them."

"Hold on. I know we're supposed to be focusing on your paintings, but you have a son?"

"I do. This is the first time I've talked about it on TV," Ego smiled, "he's doing very well for himself, by the way. I couldn't be more proud."

"So he's forgiven you?"

"No. Not at all. But I hope that he will one day. In the meantime, I've been keeping an eye on his progress. I wish him the best with his upcoming show."

Don't you dare, Quill thought. He clenched his free hand into a fist as he nervously watched the rest of the interview. The last thing Quill wanted was the rest of the world knowing that they were related. Luckily, Ego seemed to be more interested in playing coy. That was as much information as he gave out. For now.

"He's your dad?" Stephen asked quietly. He must have entered the room awhile ago. Quill had been so focused on the TV that he hadn't noticed.

"Yeah," Quill admitted with a sigh, "if you can call him that."

Stephen went over to Quill and hugged him from behind. It did wonders to soothe his nerves. "Do you want to talk about it?" Stephen asked.

Quill's first instinct was to say no, but he stopped himself. If he was going to try to start something serious with Stephen, he should tell him. Stephen had a right to know what he might be getting into. After all, for better or worse, it seemed Quill wasn't going to be able to completely ignore Ego. "Yeah," Quill said, making up his mind, "I think I do."

\---------------------

Quill never did text him back. It's what Thor had expected, but he still found it a little disappointing. He'd hoped Quill would say, well, anything really. It was probably for the best though. Not hearing from Quill had allowed him to distance himself a little more. He'd started spending more of his time with Sif and the other three. It still wasn't a lot considering his work, but it felt good to really rekindle those old relationships. Fandral even seemed to grudgingly start warming up to him again-- despite his stance on him dating Sif. Thor had actually managed to go a couple of days without constantly thinking about Quill for once.

That was a little harder today though. The premiere was happening later tonight. He'd promised Quill he'd watch. Even if he hadn't... he kind of had to see what was so worth it to Quill. Then maybe he could understand why things had fallen apart the way they had. He debated asking Sif if she wanted to watch it with him, but just asking would probably put her on edge. It was probably better that he didn't say anything at all. Until she inevitably asked about it anyway.

He could watch it with Loki and Quill's family if he wanted. They had invited him. He wasn't sure he was up for that though. He might... act strange. He wasn't sure how he'd take seeing Quill on screen. Maybe it was for the best that he was on his own tonight.

Thor made himself some dinner and ate in silence. He still had half an hour or so to go. He put on the TV, but he couldn't really focus on the program currently running. It'd probably be the same situation no matter what he watched. He muted it for a moment and considered another option. If they were still dating, he would have called Quill to support him before his show aired. Maybe... Maybe it was still okay to do that. Thor pulled out his phone and stared at Quill's name in his contacts before making a spur of the moment decision.

Thor forgot to breathe as he nervously waited for Quill to pick up the phone. The longer it took, the more Thor realized that Quill probably wouldn't answer his call in the first place. After that last text he'd sent, things were bound to be awkward between them. Still, just as he was about to give up, Quill's voice came through.

"Hey, Thor," Quill replied. He sounded a little tense. He probably really had debated ignoring the call. Quill picked up in the end though. Thor was grateful for that.

"I just wanted to say good luck with your premiere. That might be a weird thing to say though, huh? It'd make sense if it was a play, but..."

"Yeah, I'm not sure what the proper etiquette is either," Quill chuckled. Thor closed his eyes and pressed his head against the wall. Just hearing Quill's laugh had triggered something in him. It hurt and made him happy at the same time. "I can appreciate the sentiment though."

Thor could exchange goodbyes and end the call there, but he wanted to talk more so he slipped back into his old habits. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Nervous. Which is dumb since there isn't anything I can do about it at this point. I just hope people will like it."

"They will."

"Stephen's already told me that about ten times today. I still can't seem to calm down though."

"It's your first time having something you've made exposed to so many people. It makes sense. But it will be fine. I promise. The Grandmaster would've kicked you off his show a long time ago if you weren't amazing. The episode will be great and you'll feel stupid for having worried about it."

Thor heard Quill take a deep breath. It looked like his little pep talk was working. Quill should be alright now. "Thanks, Thor," Quill said quietly.

"No problem," he replied, "I'll text you after the show, alright?"

"Yeah, alright. I'll look forward to it."

They exchanged a quick goodbye and then ended the call. Thor then turned his attention back to the TV. Just a few minutes to go now.

When the program finally started, Thor watched every second with a strange intensity. He'd always been more of a casual viewer, but today... that wasn't the case. He took in as much as he could, giving Quill's work the attention it deserved. Then, Quill showed up on screen. He fit in so naturally it was kind of scary. Thor had expected him to be good, but he still kind of thought he'd be able to see some of Quill's inexperience compared to the others. He was glad that he couldn't, of course, but that meant that Quill's future really was in acting. The way the camera highlighted Quill made Thor feel a little off. It was nice to be able to see Quill up close the way that he used to, but... he had to share that with the rest of the world now. The camera let everyone else in on what Thor had wanted to keep to himself. God. He missed Quill. It was probably lucky that Quill was only in the first episode for a few minutes.

Once the episode was over, Thor texted Quill. His tactic was simple: bring up Drax. No matter what Quill was feeling after watching the episode, the mere mention of his idol's name would put him in a good mood.

Thor: You know, I didn't realize Drax could be in something that was actually good.

Thor smiled to himself. He was asking for it now. Quill was definitely going to--

Quill: Fuck off. All Drax's works are good.

Thor laughed. Yup. That's about what he'd expected.

Thor: Oh really? Because I seem to remember a certain film with an absurd ending involving aliens.

Quill: Pure genius. It just went over our heads when we saw it in the theater.

Thor imagined Quill's amused smirk as he'd typed out that message.

Thor: Right. Excuse me. I have no taste.

Quill's reply came a little slower this time, as if he'd hesitated before hitting the send button.

Quill: That's not true. You dated me.

Fuck. How was he supposed to respond to that? Thor didn't want to keep Quill waiting too long so he went with his first thought.

Thor: Look how that turned out.

Ugh. No. That was definitely wrong. Thor quickly texted a follow up message.

Thor: I don't regret it though.

Quill: I regret how it ended.

Thor stared at the message for a second too long. Quill sent another text before he could reply.

Quill: How are things going with Sif?

Thor sighed.

Thor: Okay. I'm sorry you found out the way you did, by the way. That is not how I wanted things to go.

Quill: Obviously. You don't hate anyone enough to pull that shit on purpose.

Quill: Why Sif though? I thought you weren't attracted to her.

Thor: I needed a distraction. Something to keep my mind off of you. She was there.

Thor: And I'm probably an asshole for that. No. Definitely.

Quill: You don't love her then.

Thor: I'm trying to.

Thor: I know you don't believe me, but she's great. I just... don't feel that way about her yet.

Quill: You can't force that kind of thing.

Quill was right about that. He let out another sigh and began to type out a reply when Quill sent him another message.

Quill: Someone confessed to me recently.

Thor froze. Whatever he'd planned to say was immediately forgotten.

Quill: I think I'm going start dating him.

Him? Another guy then. That was somehow worse than Quill dating a girl. And who was it? It didn't take long for Thor to settle on the possibility that it was Stephen. Is he the one who'd given Quill the hickey? Now that he'd seen the first episode, it was clear that Quill's character wasn't exactly straight.

Thor: Am I supposed to tell you not to?

That sounded too harsh. Thor had responded from a place of hurt, but Quill didn't deserve that. Thor quickly typed out his next message.

Thor: Because that's what I want to do.

Thor: But we both know that I shouldn't. If you like him and think you can be happy...

Shit. This was so hard to write.

Thor: Just make sure that you're happy.

A minute passed before he got another text from Quill.

Quill: I'm going to the park. The one with the slide shaped like a dinosaur.

Thor stared at the text for another minute. He wanted to go. Every instinct in him told him to go. But... he also knew that he shouldn't go. He was dating Sif. Going to see Quill at the park didn't necessarily mean anything would happen, but he knew better than to pretend it wasn't some form of cheating. Still, if he didn't go then that was him accepting that he was okay with Quill moving on.

Fuck it.

Thor had never been one to listen to his brain over his heart.

\---------------------

It was dark out so nobody save Quill was at the park. He took a seat on one of the swings and stared up at the night sky. This was so dumb. What had he been thinking? Whether Thor showed up or not, nothing good could come from this. He wasn't sure which outcome he was actually hoping for. If Thor didn't show, he could feel right about moving on with Stephen. If he did, well, it was going to be a terrible mess. And yet, that terrible mess was kind of appealing right now.

Just as Quill was wondering how long he should stay, Thor came into view. He looked a little haggard and unsure, but he'd come. He'd really come.

"I didn't see your car so I was afraid that maybe you'd left already," he said, going over to the swing set where Quill was.

"I walked. My car is kind of dead. And by kind of, I mean totally."

"What? Since when?"

"Since the night I found out about you and Sif. I kind of crashed it into a tree when I tried to avoid hitting a rabbit. And by kind of, I mean--"

"That's not funny, Quill. Why didn't you call me?"

"Because," Quill frowned, "I didn't think I could."

The pained expression on Thor's face hurt to see. "You can always call me. I don't care what's going on between us. If you need me, I'll come, okay? No matter what."

Quill got up from the swing and jumped Thor. He hadn't expected it, so they both ended up tumbling backward onto the grass. That should have been the upset that Quill needed to think better of his plan, but it didn't stop him. He leaned in and kissed Thor with all his might. When Thor didn't respond right away, tears started to well in Quill's eyes. Of course he couldn't respond. He was dating Sif. Whatever he'd come here for, it wasn't for this, was it?

Thor gently wiped the tears from Quill's eyes. "I love you, Quill," Thor said quietly, "but this is a bad idea."

"I know," Quill choked back tears, "but I love you too."

Thor stared at him for a moment in silence. Then, he pulled Quill towards him and returned the kiss. 

This didn't fix anything. Quill knew that in the back of his head. Still, he ignored it. No matter how badly this messed up things in the future, it was worth it. It was worth it just to spend one more minute with Thor.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, real talk. How many of you would actually be annoyed if I turned this into a Thor x Quil x Stephen story? Because while I initially told myself I wasn't going to solve things with an OT3, I'm at the point where I just want to do it. (It was an arbitrary rule in the first place) I promise I can do it in a way that isn't cheesy.
> 
> Anyway, thoughts? Would you be down with that? Or do you want it to stay Thor x Quill exclusively?
> 
> I'm going to try and make up my mind for good by the time I post the next chapter.

That minute with Thor turned out to be about thirty seconds because halfway through the kiss, Thor thought better of it. He gently pushed Quill away and said, "I'm sorry. I can't do this after all. I know I've been a shit boyfriend to Sif, but this... is a new low for me."

Quill took a seat on the grass and let out a sigh. What had he expected? Honestly, maybe it was good that it ended where it did. If he felt this devastated now, how bad would he have felt if Thor put a stop to it after they'd done more?

Thor got to his feet and then offered Quill a hand up. "Come on. I'll give you a ride so you don't have to walk back."

Quill ignored Thor's outstretched hand and got up on his own. "It's fine. I don't have to go that far."

"Yeah, but it's late. You shouldn't be wandering around on your own."

"I... kind of need the time to clear my head."

"Yeah, I get that," Thor said with a sigh. "Alright then. Text me when you get there? So I know you're okay."

"Sure."

"Quill, before I go..."

"Yeah?"

"I need to sort out things with Sif. After that, maybe..."

"Yeah," Quill said, not really listening anymore. He'd toned out the conversation after hearing Sif's name. He was going back to her then? Apparently his relationship with Sif was worth fixing while theirs wasn't. Quill felt a surge of bitterness towards Sif. Then came the self hatred. He had a lot of nerve trying to make her the villain after what he'd just pulled. "I'll see you later, Thor."

"Good night, Quill," Thor said gently.

Quill sighed and then started walking back to Stephen's place. He'd told Thor the truth when he said it wasn't far, but he was in no hurry to get back. Honestly, he was a little scared of facing Stephen right now. Quill had disappeared abruptly and without saying a word. Add to that the fact that he'd done it to go see Thor and, well... Stephen had every right to be mad.

"Peter Quill," a voice called out to him. Quill looked ahead to see a man in a grey suit get out of a fancy black car with tinted windows. "I'm Yon-Rogg. I work for your father."

"Then, no offense, but I really don't want to talk to you," Quill said. He moved to go around him, but Yon-Rogg cut him off.

"Don't be hasty now. I'll make it worth your time."

"Not interested." Quill pushed past him.

"Then I guess I'll need to get your attention a different way. Maybe by selling this picture I just took to some gossip magazine?"

Quill stopped short. When he turned to look at Yon-Rogg, the man waved his phone mockingly. Displayed on the screen was picture of Quill kissing Thor in the park.

"A bit of a scandal might actually boost your popularity, but I wonder how it would effect Thor's situation? And to think, he just got his company back in order too. Too bad."   
Quill lunged for the phone, but Yon-Rogg pulled it out of his reach.

"That's not going to work," Yon-Rogg continued with a smug smile, "even if you managed to get your hands on my phone, I already sent the picture to Ego. He was very happy to learn that you still care about Thor, by the way. It really messed up his plans when the two of you broke up."

"What plans?"

"Well, after Ronan bailed on Thor's company, who do you think came to the rescue?"

"Y-you can't be serious."

"Oh, but I am. Of course, Thor didn't know he was agreeing to work with Ego. He also didn't know that Ego was the one who'd caused the problem in the first place. Believe it or not, Ego and Ronan have been on good terms for a long time now. All Ego had to do was ask for a little favor."

"That's insane! Why the hell would he go that far?"

Yon-Rogg pulled a card out of his suit pocket and handed it to Quill. "You can ask him all about it yourself," Yon-Rogg said, "he's exhibiting his work at this gallery starting tomorrow. Come opening night, around closing."

"What happens if I don't?"

"Honestly, it won't change your life much. Thor's life, on the other hand..."

Quill clenched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth. Never in his worst dreams had he imagined Ego would do something like this.

"And with that, I bid you a good night," Yon-Rogg said with a bit of a bow. It came off as sarcastic. He then got back into the car and drove away, leaving Quill behind.

Quill kicked the nearest trash can. It was a bad idea because all he really succeeded in doing was stubbing his toe. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. How could this have happened? Was that kiss all Ego needed to trigger his plans? No. Quill shook his head. Ego would have found a way to mess with him regardless. He could have avoided involving Thor though. Damn it. Why couldn't he have just kept his distance? Quill bit his lip and tried to process. What was he going to do? What could he do? Ego had him completely under his thumb.

Quill was so stressed that he suddenly felt a little nauseous. That told him he needed to take a minute to focus on breathing. In. Out. In. Out. Once he got his breathing steady, he tried thinking things through again. He'd have a better idea on how to handle the situation once he knew what Ego actually wanted from him. Until then... worrying wasn't going to help him. It was impossible to set his thoughts aside completely, but fixating on the task at hand-- getting back to Stephen's house and texting Thor-- helped him ignore them for awhile.

When he finally reached his destination, Quill took out his phone. He'd turned it off after telling Thor he was headed to the park in order to keep himself from seeing any texts Thor might have sent to dissuade him. Now that he turned it back on, he saw that he had several texts from the people he cared about congratulating him on the premiere. Darcy's message was particularly silly since she was demanding spoilers. Quill scrolled through them and managed a smile. Okay. He should be able to pretend things were okay now. That should make facing Stephen a little easier. He sent Thor a quick text saying that he made it home just fine and then took a deep breath.

When he opened the door, he saw that Stephen had waited up for him. Quill shouldn't have been surprised. Stephen had been nothing but good to him for a long time now. It made Quill feel even shittier about leaving.

"Welcome back," Stephen said, looking up from the book he'd been reading to pass the time.

"You aren't going to ask?"

"No," Stephen said quietly, "I don't need to. You went to see Thor, right?"

"How'd you know?"

"Just a hunch. Well, more of a fear, I guess." Stephen paused for a second and then asked, "how'd it go?"

"Not so great."

"Well, I'd be lying if I said I was sorry to hear that."

"Blunt as always, huh?" Quill smiled.

"I bet you regret saying you liked that about me now, don't you?" 

"I don't."

Stephen smiled back. "I think I'm going to get myself something to drink. Did you want something? Tea? Coffee?"

"I'll take some coffee."

Stephen nodded and headed to the kitchen to start some. Quill followed him and sat at the counter. He appreciated that Stephen didn't try to pry.

"By the way, people seem to be responding positively to you and your character so far," Stephen said.

"You looked online then? I thought you said I shouldn't do that."

"You shouldn't," Stephen said, "no matter how many good comments you get, there will always be someone out there who decides to hate you on principle. Those kinds of comments can be hard to ignore when you're starting out. In any case, good or bad, people on the internet aren't usually constructive."

"Fair. Doesn't mean I'm not curious though."

Stephen finished making the coffee and poured Quill a cup. After placing it in front of him, he pulled out his phone and started reading off comments. "Let's see, we'll start with... Huh. That Quill guy is pretty okay so far. Looking forward to seeing how he does in future episodes. Then there's this one: OMG! Is it just me or is the new guy hella cute?" Stephen looked up from his phone and added, "there are a lot of comments like that."

"In fairness, they don't have a lot to base their opinions on yet."

"And you are hella cute."

Quill snorted. Hearing Stephen say something that dumb was priceless.

"Then there's all the comments raging over the fact that your character is something other than straight. You're ruining society apparently."

"Yup. Sounds like something I'd do," Quill said, taking a satisfied sip of his coffee. When he put his cup down, he said a quiet, "thanks, Stephen. This helped."

"Anytime, Quill."

Quill really hoped he could keep living here after tomorrow.

\---------------------

"You watched the premiere the other night, right?" Quentin asked before sticking a fry in his mouth. He'd texted Peter saying he was in the area and asked if Peter wanted to get some lunch together. It wasn't nearly as convenient as Quentin had pretended it was, but he figured Peter would be less likely to decline if he made it sound like a happy coincidence. Whether or not he actually needed to go the extra mile, Peter had accepted. That's how they ended up sitting across from each other in a fast food joint.

"Yeah. Loki and I watched it with my aunt and her husband."

"No Quill?"

"He watched the premiere with Stephen."

"Huh? With Stephen?" That was news to Quentin.

"Well, yeah. They're living together right now."

"Seriously?" Quentin exclaimed. Yeah, he'd noticed how well the two of them got along on set, but didn't Quill have a boyfriend? This was the sort of gossip he expected Natasha to keep him up to date on. Was it possible that even she didn't know?

"I probably shouldn't have said that, huh?" Peter asked with an awkward laugh.

"Well, you can't take it back now so you might as well spill it all. Are they dating?"

"No? Quill hasn't told me if they are."

"I guess I'll just have to ask Stephen about it then."

"Please don't," Peter groaned.

Quentin chuckled and leaned back in his chair. "Alright, I'll show mercy. Just this once. But you have to do something for me in exchange."

"What's that?"

"Make the dumbest face you can," Quentin said, lifting his phone up in a way that made it clear that he intended to take a picture.

Peter rolled his eyes and then took a couple of Quentin's fries. He put them in his mouth and let them hang out like walrus teeth. Quentin chuckled and snapped the picture. 

"How'd it come out?" Peter asked.

Quentin showed him the picture. "You are the weirdest looking walrus I've ever seen."

"We're even now though, right? You aren't going to say anything?"

"Nah. Stephen is notoriously good at keeping his mouth shut. I doubt I would have gotten anything out of him in the first place," Quentin said. It'd probably be pretty easy to crack Quill though now that he was thinking about it. "Anyway, how are things with Loki? Any better?"

"Yeah, actually. He's been more aggressive lately."

Quentin should hope so after he went through the trouble of issuing that challenge. "Have you guys figured things out in the bedroom then?"

"No," Peter admitted, sinking into his chair.

Quentin sighed. He wasn't the one dating Loki, but he was still frustrated. No good would come out of forcing the issue though. Peter had enough sense to know that. "Well, you've done what you can do about it," Quentin said, "it's all on Loki at this point. Just keep being the loving and supportive boyfriend that you already are."

Peter nodded. The determined expression on his face was pretty adorable. Maybe Quentin could push a little bit more on his behalf. It was kind of fun pissing off Loki anyway.

"Hey, if I hand you this $10 bill, would you go get me a milkshake? Feel free to get yourself one too."

"Um, yeah. Okay." Peter looked a little confused, but he took the money from Quentin and went over to the counter to order.

Quentin took the opportunity to text Loki. He typed out 'look who I'm with' and attached the photo of Peter he'd just taken. With any luck, that should rile Loki up.

\---------------------

Thor paced around the room, dreading the upcoming conversation with Sif. He hadn't settled on how he was going to tell her. Honestly, he didn't think there actually was a good way to tell her. He just had to do it. He took the ring he'd gotten for Quill out of the drawer and put it on top of the desk. Then he took a deep breath. That should be enough to keep him from chickening out. There was a reason he hadn't taken it back. Even if this course of action was futile... he had to follow it through to the end. That was the decision he'd made.  
He pulled up Sif's number on his phone and made the call.

"Hey, Thor," she responded happily, "what's up?"

"We need to talk."

Sif hesitated. She probably sensed something was up. Instead of replying, she hung up.

That... wasn't the reaction that Thor had expected. He called her up again, but she didn't answer. Thor tried a couple more times before getting aggravated and texting her. He sent: if you don't answer your phone, I will tell you over texts. After he hit send, Thor tried calling her one more time. This time, she did pick up.

"You're breaking up with me, aren't you?" she asked.

"I... sorry. I didn't want to tell you over the phone, but yes."

"Can I at least ask why?" Her voice cracked mid sentence. "I thought things were actually starting to go well."

"They were, but... that's because I was hanging out with you as if you were my friend instead of my girlfriend," Thor admitted. This was hard. Still, as hard as this was for him, he knew it was harder for her. "It would make life easier for me if I could think of you the way I do Quill, but I can't. I love you, but it's as a friend. Trying to force it into something else was never going to work."

"I knew that already," Sif sniffled, "I did, but... I didn't want to admit it."

"I'm really sorry."

Sif went quiet for a moment and then asked, "are you going back to Quill?"

"I'm going to try to."

"You broke up for a reason, you know? You can't just ignore the things that didn't work and hope they'll go away."

"Yeah. I know. But I've decided that I'm not going to assume we can't make things work. I love him. I know that's not always enough, but it is enough of a reason to play things out until the bitter end. No matter how painful it gets."

"I'll... do my best to cheer you on then. After I've cried my eyes out and gone through a tub of ice cream."

"Still friends then?"

"Yeah. Still friends."

\---------------------

Ego was busy talking to two well dressed people when Quill made his way into the gallery. It looked like it was going to be awhile and Quill was in no rush to talk to his father, so he went ahead and took a look around. Honestly, Ego's paintings were pretty extraordinary. How someone so lacking in basic human emotions could craft something like the one he currently stood in front of was a mystery to Quill. When closing time came around, people started shuffling out of the building until only Ego and Quill were left.

"You came," Ego said, approaching Quill with open arms.

"You didn't give me much of a choice," Quill pointed out. There was no way he was going to hug him. Ego seemed to realize that so he put his arms down.

"Don't look so glum, my boy. This isn't going to be as bad as you think it'll be."

Quill doubted that. "What do you want?"

"What I have always wanted. I want to be remembered. To do that, I have to solidify my legacy. And you, Peter, are a part of that legacy. The more famous you are, the more famous I am and vice versa."

"Just one problem with that. Nobody actually knows that I'm your son."

"Which is one of the things we're going to change," Ego said simply, "I've planned out a whole redemption arc that we're going to play out for the media-- one I've already put in to motion, in fact. The very second I mentioned I had a son on TV, the internet went wild with speculation. A fair number of people have actually guessed correctly too. And now that your show has aired its first episode, even more people are bound to connect the dots."

That's why Ego hadn't actually come out and said Quill was his son in his interview. He wanted to get everyone's attention first, in order to build up to the reveal so that it had as much impact as possible. It was frustrating, but Quill couldn't just tell him to fuck off. Not when Ego was essentially holding Thor's company hostage.

When Quill didn't reply, Ego clapped his hands together and continued, "now, don't worry too much. I'll plan things around your work schedule. I do want you to continue doing well at your job." Because his fame boosted Ego's fame. Yeah, Quill got it. "I am going to forbid you to see Thor from now on though."

"You seemed fine with him back when we first met you."

"That's when you worked at a diner," Ego said somewhat coldly, "he was well above your social station at that point so I was honestly a little impressed. But now..." Ego grinned. "You have surpassed my expectations and started making a real name for yourself. As far as I'm concerned, Thor is beneath you at this point. You need to be paired with someone powerful. Someone who will bring us even more fame. And I think I have a decent idea on who I'd like that to be."

"Hold on. You're deciding my love life too now?" Quill asked angrily.

"Trust me, I know what's best for you. And I'm not completely heartless. I did take your sexuality into account when considering our options." 

His sexuality, huh? Ego had just assumed that he was gay, hadn't he? The fact that Quill could be bisexual probably hadn't crossed his mind. Then again, even if it had, Ego probably liked the idea of the attention having a gay son would get him from the media. He could make himself look like a caring father by telling everyone how accepting he was of his gay son too. The more Quill thought about it, the more disgusted he became. Ego had thought this through. He was going to craft his public image as carefully as he crafted his paintings.

"Anyway, we can worry about all that later. You've done what I needed you to do for today," Ego said.

"And what's that?"

"After seeing my interview, you were so moved by my words and decided to reach out to me. Thus, you came by my exhibit and we had a heartfelt chat-- a heartfelt chat that happens to the second step in the narrative we are going to create together."

"You really think people will be fooled by this?"

"I do," Ego said bluntly, "people are dumber than you think. Besides, you're an actor, right? I'm sure you can make it look convincing."

Quill seethed quietly.

"Don't be dramatic, Peter. Everything I do is for us. You'll see that sooner or later."


End file.
